


Partners in Crime

by dairyair



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Crimes & Criminals, Denial of Feelings, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Grinding, Kissing, Light Angst, Making Out, Morning After, Movie Night, Mutual Pining, Neck Kissing, Oral Sex, Organized Crime, Partners in Crime, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Reconnaissance, Rough Sex, Scars, Sex, Shameless Smut, Smut, Spanking, Stakeout, Tender Sex, Tenderness, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27646060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dairyair/pseuds/dairyair
Summary: You're a paralegal working under the city of Radiant Garden's corrupt DA, Luxord. You're assigned to help on a major case, one that could make your career: bringing down Xigbar, the second-in-command of the criminal enterprise Organization XIII. But, a chance encounter with Xigbar leaves you embroiled in his cunning plan to avoid going to jail. Somehow, you find yourself attracted to the man that's supposed to be your enemy. You wonder if you could end up being friends... or maybe something even more.But there are sinister forces at work beyond the Organization that not even Xigbar fully comprehends. Will you two make it out alive?
Relationships: Braig (Kingdom Hearts)/Reader, Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts)/Reader
Comments: 22
Kudos: 37





	1. The Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write another Xigbar story for so long now. But, KH3 really threw me for a loop, and I didn't know what to write. Well, when the canon becomes a bit too tricky to follow, there's only one thing left to do: use it as a base template for an AU fic! 
> 
> Do I really understand everything happening in the KH series? No, I'm a little lost. Do I know the first thing about working in a DA's office or as a paralegal? Not a clue. Do I know even a single thing about partaking in a criminal enterprise? Certainly not. Is any of that going to stop me?? I don't plan to let it!!
> 
> I hope you enjoy. I'm having a really fun time writing this. Comments and feedback are always appreciated!

Weak morning sun peeked through your bedroom curtains. You heard the persistent drizzle of rain outside your window. With a tired grunt, you grabbed for your cellphone on the nightstand. The artificial light stung: 7:56. With an exhale of victory, you scanned your thumb to unlock the phone and swiped the alarm off. There was no greater feeling in the morning than waking up just a few minutes before your alarm goes off so you don’t have to hear its screech.

You stumbled out of bed in order to get ready for the day. There was no time to waste. You were a paralegal that helped in the city’s DA office, and your team was getting so close to being able to close the case on one of the most wanted criminals in the city: Xigbar, otherwise known as The Freeshooter.

It would be the first time the DA’s office had actually used its power for good in a long while... or at all, possibly. They city’s name, Radiant Garden, was a joke now, a sad reminder of long ago, when someone named Ansem was mayor. Now it was ruled by a crime empire called Organization XIII. But it seemed to be only loosely banded together; all of the lieutenants of the Organization were constantly at each others’ throats, battling for control in different turf wars. Violence spilled out onto the streets, and many innocent people suffered.

And working for the DA’s office actually made you a part of it. You hadn’t known when you had joined up; you had been young and naive, and you had wanted to take a job that you thought had real impact. You were from a sleepy, quiet city a few hours away by train: Twilight Town. You had heard tales of the dangers of Radiant Garden, but when you saw the job opening, the prospect of getting to really make a difference rather than waste your life in a sleepy suburb where nothing ever happened excited you. To your horror, you found yourself working for a criminal, a man who used his powers to run casinos all over the city and extort people for money.

This was because the DA himself, Luxord, was a member of Organization XIII. It was common knowledge in the office, and no one tried to hide that they knew. Because once you were implicated in the Organization, there was no way you could get out. You were complicit. Most of the time you worked on cases to help bring down people who were Luxord’s rising competitors: wealthy bar owners, distributors, or whoever started to show interest on moving in on Luxord’s business.

You sighed as the water from your shower enveloped you. Working for the DA’s office for years now had left an unclean feeling that you could never really wash off. Why had you stayed? Simple: there weren’t any good jobs in the city that weren’t connected to Organization XIII. And no one from back home in Twilight Town wanted to hire you now that you were connected to Radiant Garden; everyone from back home you had contacted made sure to let you know that yours had been a one-way trip. And even if you were to try to start over somewhere else, would the Organization follow you? Keep tabs on you? The thought was too grim to bear, and you figured the hell you knew was better than the hell you didn’t.

You dreamed of escaping Radiant Garden and finally being free. That’s why when Luxord had called up a secret meeting of his best staff and announced that you would be working to bring down Xigbar, the Organization’s second-in-command, you knew this was your chance. You didn’t know what kind of war was brewing within the Organization to make Luxord escalate the situation so far as to use his position to go after Xigbar (and everyone in the office knew better than to ask), but this was your chance! You could make a name for yourself, actually help better the city – and then apply for a job anywhere else. Even though Radiant Garden was viewed with disdain by everywhere else, if you could show that you actually did some _good_ while you were there… you were sure that’d be a whole different story!

And with Luxord’s insider knowledge of the Organization, the evidence kept flowing in for you to document and add to the case file. The amount of weapons dealing and smuggling that Xigbar was involved in was nearly unfathomable. You had no idea that just one person could be responsible for so much mayhem.

Having finished getting ready, you spaced out while waiting for the machine to finish brewing your coffee. Once you had a thermos full of that, you could walk the few blocks to work; as if punishing yourself for your choice to come to the city, you chose to live downtown close to the office in the dreary corporate hellscape dubbed, ‘The City That Never Was.’ You couldn’t wait to do something on this job that finally seemed worthy of the word ‘justice’. And then, maybe, once you were free, you could help with an outside investigation of the Organization. Free the whole city from their tyranny!

‘One step at a time,’ you chided yourself as you grabbed your ready travel mug of coffee and work bag. ‘I can barely make it into the office on time most days. Maybe I should focus on my little victories before assuming I can take down a criminal empire.’ You grabbed your umbrella next to the apartment door and headed out.

When you arrived at your desk (only 15 minutes late, you were pretty proud of yourself), there was already a mountain of papers on your desk. You sat your dripping umbrella down and flipped through the first few pages. The police had sent over their witness interview transcripts for the past week. You’d have to get those analyzed and cataloged into your ongoing database.

You slumped into your chair, frowning. You were hoping to have today to work on the slidedeck showcasing all the physical evidence that had been collected for the case so far. But, how would you have the time now? You fired up your computer and shot out a quick IM to your manager. ‘hey, I know the presentation needs to be done by wed, but what about these interviews on my desk? next week?’

The response was immediate and harsh. ‘presentation is now tomorrow check your inbox. Interviews by wed.’ A pause. ‘Thx.’

‘Got it,’ you sent back. You drained your mug of coffee in a gulp and headed to the office kitchen to grab yourself another one. It was about to be a long day.

* * *

“Hey! You want to come out and get a drink with us?”

“A drink? It’s barely after lunch,” you mumbled to your boisterous coworker Terra. He was as eager as ever to get away from the office.

“Um, helloo-ooo?” A chipper Ven waved a hand in front of your face that you swatted out of the way as you drafted another email. “It’s 7 o’clock. We all should’ve left ages ago. C’mon, Aqua’s buying!” The blond and the brunet winked and gestured for you to follow.

Horrified, you checked the time and confirmed that they were right. 7? Seriously? You had barely gotten through half of your to-do list for the day. “No, I need to stay here. You all go on, maybe I’ll come out with you tomorrow.”

The two boys shrugged. “OK. Just turn out the lights whenever you leave,” Terra said.

“Later!” Ven called with a wave and the two were gone.

On your phone, you ordered delivery from a nearby restaurant and got back to work. How had you not noticed your stomach grumbling? Well, whatever, you’d have a quick bite, finish off some emails, get your to-do list set for tomorrow (which was looking like it would sadly just be a carryover from everything you didn’t get done today), and you could head home for the night.

After you had eaten and gotten a few more things squared away, you checked the clock again to see if there was time to get a few more things done. To your horror, it was nearly 10 o’clock. You’d be locked in soon if you didn’t hurry! How did the time go so quickly? You hadn’t even gotten that much done! ‘I knew I shouldn’t have stopped to take all those quizzes. ‘What flavor of ice cream are you?’ Vanilla. Hardly,’ you couldn’t help thinking.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you muttered, throwing your styrofoam container in a bin and scooping your stuff off your desk into your bag. As you went to turn off your laptop, your eyes flicked down to the sync icon at the bottom of your screen.

Lips pursed, you hovered over it. “What still has to sync, I want to get out of here… let’s see… no backups since… last Friday?” You groaned and slumped your head onto the desk. You couldn’t leave without resolving this. You’d been the sympathetic ear for too many coworkers’ horror stories of having their computers dropped in puddles, or stolen, or accidentally jumped on by an overzealous large but lovable dog – all only to find out that their stuff hadn’t been backed up, and they’d lost weeks or even months worth of work.

Your mind was frazzled from a stressful day as you tried to run through your options for fixing the situation. After a few seconds, you remembered the IT department. Luckily for you, even at this time of night, there should still be a person at the emergency IT desk. Like a bad sitcom, the IT office was relegated to the basement, along with the DA office’s main server. You doublechecked that you had your ID badge and key card and headed for the elevator with your laptop tucked under your arm, burning hot from being on all day and still whirring away. Hopefully, whoever was there could help and you could finally head home!

When you reached the basement, you shivered from a sudden wave of cold air, despite the probably-overheating laptop you were holding. ‘Was it such a good idea to house a very important government server in such a dank and musty basement?’ You tried to avoid coming down here as much as you could, and it took you a few wrong turns before you found the area you were looking for.

You tried the door that had ‘IT’ written on it in fading letters, but it didn’t open. You tried again more forcefully; still no luck. You rapped on the door with your knuckles. “Hellooo-oo? I’m so sorry, I know you probably want to head home, but I have an emergency. I hope it’ll be easy to fix, and I should be out of your hair really quickly… hello?”

You jiggled the door handle again. Still no response. Sighing in exasperation, you balanced your ridiculously hot laptop on your arm and opened the screen. It was it wasn’t even 10:15 yet; there was supposed to be someone on duty until 11 to answer calls for folks working late at home and for locking up all the electronics at night.

You peered down the hallway and could see a faint blue glow. If you were remembering correctly, the server room was down there. Then, you heard a noise come from down the hall.

You smiled to yourself and shook your head. Of course! The person was probably in the server room and hadn’t heard you making a racket! You smiled and jogged down the hallway. You peered through the window on the door. Sure enough, you saw a tall person in black seated on a stool with a laptop connected to a big machine. You knocked on the door with a relieved smile. The person turned around, but you couldn’t see his face well in the dim light.

“Hi,” you said, cracking the door open. “Sorry to bother you so late, but I’m so glad I found you! I’m hoping you can help me with a small computer problem I’m having.”

After you stopped talking and were fully in the room, you narrowed your eyes, trying to make out the person’s face. A long black coat with a hood that covered almost the whole face made it tough to really see anything distinctive. From the jawline you could see, you assumed you were speaking to a man. You were just able to see a deep frown and… was that a scar?

The trenchcoat was certainly more eccentric attire than you expected the help desk staffer to be wearing... but it _was_ cold in there. “Brrr, I don’t know how you stand working down here. At least that coat of yours looks warm,” you said lamely, rubbing your arms. The man still hadn’t said a word to you, and you felt a need to fill in the silence. “This laptop feels like it’s on fire, though, which is keeping me warm.” You cleared your throat awkwardly. “The fan isn’t broken, though. It’s always like this. It’s not a hardware issue. It’s just a, like, backup issue.”

Suddenly, the man’s frown burst into a Cheshire-like grin. “Not a problem, sweetheart. Take a seat, and I’ll try to give you a hand,” he said in a deep, laid-back voice.

For a guy who had just ignored you for the past minute, he was suddenly speaking as if he was on very familiar terms with you! You managed not to roll your eyes and brought your laptop over to him. “Thanks again. I’m trying to make sure everything I worked on today is backed up, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”

He opened your laptop and started clicking around. “Happens often enough. Let me take a look.”

“Sure.” Your eyes started to wander as you relaxed, happy to have finally found some help. The end of your ordeal was in sight, and soon you could bellyflop into your comfy bed! “So, what’re you working on here?” You peered at the computer the man had hooked up to what you assumed was the server. Text and analog boxes opened and closed on the screen at a dizzying rate.

“Huh? Oh, that – don’t worry about it. Just routine maintenance… so, you’re working on the big Xigbar case?”

“Yeah. That’s why I really want to make sure that the files are secure. So, this is routine?” You hadn’t even turned around to answer his question. You really wanted to understand what was happening on the other laptop screen. It looked like he was… downloading something?

“Hmmm, this is all very good evidence. I see Luxord’s lackeys have been busy. You were smart to want to back this up.”

You turned around, slightly concerned. “Um, yeah… thanks. Do you need to go through every file before you back it up, or…?” You moved to get a better look at your screen, but the man quickly stood up and sauntered away, holding your laptop. “Um… did you find the issue,” you asked nervously as he continued to walk away from you, clicking on various folders.

“My, my, my… you’ve all been such busy little worker bees.”

Panic rose in you. Something seemed off here. “Um, if you could stop playing around and fix it,” you said loudly, taking some steps towards him. Suddenly, you saw his laptop’s screen change from the corner of your eye. “Virus… ready…” you read out slowly. A feeling of dread enveloped you. “Who exactly are you,” you said very quietly, now very scared you just might know the answer.

The man laughed and threw off his hood. “Folks call me Xigbar. It seems like you’ve heard of me?”

You gasped and backed away. That scar on his chin… of course! It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was so distinctive – you were kicking yourself for not recognizing it. You were face-to-face with the man who you had been trying to bring to justice for so many weeks. His signature eyepatch and long, salt-and-pepper ponytail were all there, just like in the pictures. His golden eye seemed to glow at you in the dark room, and his scar was wrinkled in a sneer.

“Ah-ah-ah,” he said as he saw you backing away towards the door. “Before you try running away, maybe you should know that’s not the greatest idea.”

“Oh? Why not,” you practically squeaked, mind whirring as you tried to find a way out. The only exit was the way you came in. It was only a few steps to the door – could you make it in time?

“That’s easy, sweetheart. I have a gun.” Xigbar moved his coat aside to show a holster on his hip, and it was like ice water filled your veins. “Do _you_ have a gun, darling?”

Regrettably, you did not. And Xigbar’s marksmanship was legendary, even with one eye. What could you do? The only other thing in the room you could grab easily was – his computer! That was it!

Rushing forward, you snatched the virus-laden laptop into your hands triumphantly. “Yeah, well, if you try and shoot me, you risk destroying this computer!”

Xigbar’s eye narrowed. “You are a fighter,” he chuckled. “But even if it’s damaged, fine, it’s easily replaceable and I bribe the same guy to let me down here tomorrow night, and I do it then. Not really a problem. A minor inconvenience.”

You grimaced. This was not the reaction you had hoped for. At least you knew how he got in… not that it helped you any. Maybe you could convince him that disposing of your body would be a cumbersome chore? You stomach turned queasy. Nah – maybe better not to talk about yourself like you were a corpse just yet. You figured you could at least keep him talking while you tried to come up with some sort of plan. “And what exactly is ‘it’ you’re trying to do? Just what’re you scheming?”

Xigbar raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Isn’t it _obvious_? I got wind of the case against me you’re building here. I’m taking your files, because it’s nice to have a record of one’s exploits for nostalgia’s sake – I’m a real bleeding heart, and then I’m going to crash your whole system.”

You gasped. “No! You can’t! All my hard work,” you whispered.

“All _your_ hard work? _This_ is my work, sweetie. Bad guy stuff, OK? So, don’t go around trying to trample everything _I’ve_ achieved,” Xigbar snorted, waving an arm.

“Please! There must be another way! This is my dream! If I can convict you, I can get out of this city! Go anywhere I want, like the Destiny Islands…. Please, your case is my ticket out of here!” You couldn’t believe you were begging a criminal to let him prosecute you for your own selfish reasons. It was an unbelievable situation, but faced with the possibility of immediate death, or at least having your whole career be a waste of time for a city that didn’t seem to realize you existed, you didn’t know what else to do.

Xigbar laughed, shaking his head. “Come on! A gal like you? The Destiny Islands? Nothing ever happens in that backwater place. What would you do with yourself there?”

“Maybe I don’t want to do anything,” you yelled angrily. Xigbar’s emotional manipulation was also legendary, and he clearly knew all the right buttons to push. “Maybe I was wrong to come here in the first place. Maybe I’ve realized that I’d rather waste my days on a beach doing absolutely nothing than spend another day helping this corrupt administration!” Tears welled up in your eyes. “This is my only chance to do something good! This case has been my whole purpose for months!”

You couldn’t see through your tears, but Xigbar’s expression softened the tiniest bit. “Well, sorry, babe, but I don't feel like going to prison."

Then, you blurted out something inane in desperation that would change the course of your life forever. “Fine, then! Is there someone else? That could go instead of you, or whatever?”

Xigbar’s hand stopped its very slow journey to the holster on his hip. His golden eye examined you carefully. You waited breathless for his response. “Go on,” he finally said coldly.

You tried to think quickly, spitting out the words as they came to you. “Um, well, I know you’re not the highest in the Organization. So, uh, if you could, like, help me put away someone even, like, badder than you… I’d still… yeah, yeah – I’d still be doing a good thing,” you finished excitedly

Xigbar set your laptop down. Then, he quickly closed the distance between the two of you. Nervous, you backed up against a wall, but he stood right in front of you, studying you closely. He suddenly grabbed his laptop from your hands. “Let me get this straight, sweet pea. You’re offering to help me put away the leader of Organization XIII… is that right?”

Your heart thumped loudly in your chest. This man – this killer – was mere centimeters away. You could feel the warmth of his breath, smell the sandalwood aftershave he used. He’d surely kill you if you tried to back out now. But how could you? As ridiculous as it sounded, helping him was now your only chance to do something _right_.

You gulped and nodded.

Xigbar smirked and took a step backwards. “Wonderful,” he purred. “I’ll have my people find out where you live, and they’ll pick you up for dinner tomorrow night. We can hammer out the details then. What exactly _is_ your name, sweetheart?”

You stammered it out.

Xigbar repeated it with a wicked smile. “And of course, you can call me Xigbar. I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow night, doll.”

As Xigbar moved to take his leave, you yelled for him to wait. “So… you don’t know how to fix that,” you asked dumbly, pointing to your laptop with a quivering finger.

“Hah! As if, sweetheart. Try turning it off and on or something for all I know. I sell guns and shit; I know fuck all about computers.”

You watched numbly as he left. Then, you shuffled over to your nearly dead laptop. Turning it off, you were relieved it had enough battery to boot itself back on. You waited a few minutes for it to get connected to the Wifi. Then, a push message: ‘Sync complete! All files uploaded to the cloud.’

You sank to your knees. “Son of a bitch,” you whispered incredulously.


	2. The Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Xigbar sit down to dinner and make a plan.

The next day at work, you were constantly in fear that someone would come up to you, claiming to know about the encounter you had with Xigbar last night. But nothing happened. The eight hours came and went without anything out of the ordinary happening. Ventus got his tie caught in the shredder, but that happened at least once a month. As you packed up to head home, you began to wonder if thad all just been some kind of stress dream.

“Hey! The boys said you’d come out for drinks tonight. We missed you yesterday,” Aqua said sweetly as she walked up to your desk. “You ready to go?”

“Oh! Oh, uh…” you winced as you packed your things away. “I want to, really, but I might have to meet someone tonight.” Would Xigbar, the infamous criminal, _really_ make good on his promise to meet more with you? The more you thought about it, the more you were sure it wasn’t happening. But, was there some part of yourself… _hoping_ that it would?

Aqua cocked her head to the side in confusion. “You ‘might’ have to?”

“Yeah, um, we’re not sure if it’s happening… but if it is, it’s really important.”

“Ah, I see,” Aqua said, with a mischievous smile. “Blind date? You shouldn’t worry about it. Take the plunge; it’ll be fine.”

Blushing, you laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, yeah, something like that. Well, thanks for the advice.”

Aqua gave you a pat on the shoulder and winked. “I’ll cover for you with the boys, but you have to tell me everything tomorrow morning!”

You waved bye to Aqua and headed home. As you walked up to your apartment building, your heart started beating faster. There was a sleek, black car parked in front, and a man in a suit stepped out the second you rounded the corner. He stepped into your path and stated your name; stated, not asked. “Good evening. I’m to take you to the restaurant _Aurora_ for a dinner with my employer. If you’d kindly get in the car.”

Part of you had been excited by the prospect of meeting with Xigbar again, but now your cautious side was starting a counterargument. “How do I know you’re not taking me somewhere to kill me?”

The man tilted his head to one side, pondering your question. “You don’t,” he admitted with a shrug. “But, then, if I was sent to shoot you, I would’ve done it by now.” Silently and with a queasy stomach, you got in the backseat. The driver got in, too, and looked at you in the rearview mirror. “Buckle up,” he admonished. “There are some crazy drivers out there. Can’t be too careful.”

You buckled your seatbelt without a touch of irony. If anything, it made you more convinced that he _was_ there to deliver you safely to the restaurant. As the car crept through the drizzle and rush hour traffic, you drummed your nails on the window and chewed your lip in thought. You had spent the whole day in a daze, wondering if last night had been real or not, so you hadn’t thought through on how you’d make good on your promise to lock someone else up instead of Xigbar. Hastily, you grabbed a notebook and pen from your work bag and started scribbling down notes and ideas for talking points with Xigbar. If you couldn’t convince him that your plan was useful, then you were scared he’d dispose of you. It was basically the most high-stakes job interview of your literal life. You couldn’t believe some part of you earlier in the day had been excited by the idea of going through with this; you were terrified now.

“Here we are,” the driver called back as he pulled up to a skyscraper. You peered out. It looked ridiculously swanky, like a luxury hotel; you never ventured into this part of the city and had no idea where this _Aurora_ restaurant was supposed to be.

Another man rushed over with an umbrella for you as you stepped out of the car. “Right this way. He’s waiting for you at a table in the back.” He quickly whisked you across a grand central lobby. The attached restaurant was dimly lit with candles, but as your eyes adjusted to the ambiance, you could see a plushly decorated dining room with tables of patrons talking in hushed tones. The tinkling of crystal ware filled your ears, along with the sound of shakers from a well stocked bar. You were led all the way to the back of the restaurant to a line of tables tucked away in individual alcoves. At one of them was Xigbar, and he stood up when he saw you coming. The first thought that came to your mind when you saw him was that the man could wear the hell out of a suit, and you were annoyed with yourself for it.

“Hello, gorgeous. I hope you brought an appetite. This place is to die for.”

Glaring daggers, you sat down across the table from the man who was basically holding you hostage. “It’s hard to have an appetite when you’re in fear for your life,” you said coldly once the waiter was out of earshot.

Xigbar rolled his eye as he sat back down. “Hurting people is my last resort. I only get my hands dirty when I have to.”

“Heaven forbid I should make you sully those dainty hands of yours.” You didn’t know where this attitude was coming from. Did adrenaline make you sassy as well as more alert?

“You won’t have to if you just cooperate.” Xigbar clapped his hands together lightly with a grin. “But, first, pleasure before business. We should order. I’m starving.”

You ordered something expensive off the menu (well, everything was expensive); you figured you’d at least get a good last meal out of this whole ordeal and leave Xigbar with the bill.

“So, doll. Your proposition last night… What I’ve been wanting to know is: how are you so confident that there _are_ bigger fish to fry?” Xigbar leaned back in his chair and studied you carefully. “Your whole deal hinges on there being a fall guy worth bring to ‘justice,’ as you put it,” he drawled with air quotes.

You furrowed your brows and took a sip of your drink that the waiter had just brought to the table. Maybe he _didn’t_ lure you here just to hurt you… but this question hadn’t been one of the ones you’d prepared for in the car. “I’m not an actual detective out there gathering evidence, so… it’s not anything concrete. But, based on what I’ve seen, I have a hunch.” You paused and Xigbar nodded for you to continue. “It’s just that… well, all the evidence I’ve seen shows that you’re involved in a ton of deals. But, like… the logic of them doesn’t make sense if they’re to purely benefit _you_. It seems to me like you could’ve done something differently and gotten way more out of a deal on multiple occasions. But, if you consider that there’s someone else pulling the strings, then it makes sense.” You frowned. “Also, I raised this with the DA, Luxord, at one point, and he told me in no uncertain terms to drop it. I’ve never trusted him, so if he tells me not to dig, then I know something’s buried there. But, if there _isn’t_ anyone, why even invite me here to talk?”

Xigbar grinned. “No, doll, you’re right on the money. I just wanted to see if you were just blowing smoke last night or if you were actually smart.” His face turned serious. “You’re right not to trust Luxord. We both take our orders from a man named Xemnas. And he takes his orders from a man named Xehanort. He’s the brains behind the whole operation, and who I want you to help me pin this all on.”

“I knew it,” you hissed, clenching your fists. Everyone said Organization XIII was actually a bunch of warring generals, but that claim had started to seem fishy to you as you had worked on Xigbar’s case. You had so much you wanted to ask Xigbar. Why was there so much seemingly random violence if someone was orchestrating it all? “Can we talk about this in a public place? There are detectives after you, after all,” you whispered, glancing around the busy dining room.

Xigbar waved his hand nonchalantly. “It’s fine,” he said, completely unconcerned.

You couldn’t believe how confident he was, but you chose to take him at his word and continued the conversation. Your curiosity couldn’t be held back. “But if you are all really on the same team, why are your factions always fighting? And why does Luxord suddenly have it out for you?”

Xigbar took a sip of his drink. “We all got into this business for different reasons. We all go way back, but it’s tough to actually be ‘friends’ in the Organization. So, having our subordinates duke it out in the streets keeps things interesting.” Xigbar shrugged at your horrified expression. “You wanted the precious truth. And there’s also a hierarchy. I’m considered the second strongest,” he said smugly, “and there are perks to being that high on the ladder. Like, if someone doesn’t do something I like, I can retaliate. As for Luxord, well…” Xigbar’s expression darkened. “That’s a whole other thing. He’s not that high up in the Org, at least officially. I don’t know why he suddenly has it out for me. I’m amazed I found out about it so late into the game. You’ve been collecting info for weeks now, right? I should’ve had something long before now.” Xigbar scratched his chin. “It’s puzzling.”

“Do you think this Xehanort guy OK’d it? If he’s the one orchestrating it all?” Based on everything Xigbar had said so far, you figured this was the only plausible explanation.

Xigbar nodded slowly. “Luxord’s always been content to be a bit player. So, yeah, for something as bold as this, I think it has to come from the top.”

You couldn’t believe the amazing info you were getting. “Any idea why leadership soured on you?”

Xigbar grinned. “Let’s just say I have secrets of my own, doll. I hadn’t thought Gramps had caught on to me, but I guess I was wrong. Bound to slip up sometime, you know?”

You blinked. “Who’s Gramps?”

“Xehanort. He’s old.” Xigbar glanced behind you. “Our dinners are here. Perfect timing! We can discuss more about Gramps after we eat,” he said as the wait staff started to set out your plates.

“But – but I have so many more questions,” you stammered.

“Ugh, don’t make me talk about that old coot while I’m trying to eat; it’ll put me off my meal.”

You sighed. “Fine – can I ask other, non-‘Gramps’-related questions, then?”

Xigbar begrudgingly nodded. You mulled over how to phrase your next question as you chewed over your first bite of food. And, damn, you hated to admit it, but the food was incredible. “Well, if you have so many lackeys running around the city, why didn’t you get one of them to corrupt the data last night? Why did I find you there?” That had been bothering you.

“Simple. If you want something done right, do it yourself. I’ve never contracted out any of the really important stuff. It’s why I’m so good at what I do.”

You rolled your eyes. “Glad to hear how much pride you take in your work.” The both of you ate in silence for a few minutes. “You know… this is actually really good. I wondered if it was just overpriced snobbery, but you know how to pick a restaurant,” you admitted.

“Stick with me, babe, and I’ll show you the best life has to offer,” Xigbar said proudly.

You looked away, embarrassed. “Hey, one more thing,” you said after a minute. You were uncertain if you wanted to pull on the thread of your next question, but you couldn’t help being so curious. “Why did you let me go? This dinner, this deal we’re working up… you could’ve just taken my idea and got rid of me. So… why?” That was what you had assumed would happen, but now that he was telling you so much, you found yourself really believing that you might actually work with Xigbar to bring down the _real_ leader of Organization XIII.

Xigbar sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “That’s true. I could’ve bribed someone else in the office to carry it forward and not have to worry about you and your precious morals or whatever, but…” Xigbar tipped his head back thoughtfully. “It’s like you said before: I take pride in my work. That’s because I have a _purpose_. I wouldn’t have lasted this long without one. So, when you said you have a real reason for doing what you’re doing, I got that. Even if you’re troublesome, if you have a purpose, you’ll do a better job than someone I bribe to do it.”

You leaned forward, fascinated. “So, what _is_ your purpose?”

Xigbar winked at you, chuckling. “I’ve kept that secret for many years, princess. You have an adorable smile there, but that alone isn’t going to loosen my tongue.”

You blushed at his words and quickly sat back in your chair. “This isn’t some spy movie. I’m not here to seduce you into revealing your secrets.” You felt your cheeks heating up even more.

Xigbar’s golden eye looked you up and down. “Lucky for me, because it just might work, and we couldn’t have that, could we?” Then, Xigbar’s gaze suddenly cooled from fiery hot to icy disdain as he went from looking at your face to just over your shoulder. “Saïx. Fancy seeing you here,” he said flatly.

You whipped around to find a blue-haired man with an X-shaped scar on his forehead standing directly behind you. His piercing gold eyes were glaring at Xigbar. You assumed he was also in the Organization and wondered why they all looked so eccentric.

“May I remind you, _Number II_ , that in public we are to only refer to each other by our-”

“As if. ‘May I remind you,’ I know the damn rules,” Xigbar snapped. “What is it? I’m in the middle of dinner,” he asked, genuinely annoyed.

“Ah, yes. And you are?” Saïx’s voice made it clear he had no actual interest in your answer; he didn’t even turn to properly look at you.

“She’s just an escort,” Xigbar said quickly.

You were relieved at not having to come up with a fake name on the spot but also horrified.

“I’m hoping to finish up here soon and get to the main event, as you can imagine.”

You kicked Xigbar under the table as hard as you could. He grinned.

“I’d prefer not to imagine,” Saïx said disdainfully. Then, he spared you a glance and subsequently wrinkled his nose. “What kind of escort dresses like that?”

Now you were horrified and downright _offended_. You had come straight from work, so of course you were in your work clothes.

Xigbar tried to hide his amusement as he watched the ire rise in your face. “It’s a service they offer. It makes it look much less conspicuous, so you look just like two regular people on a mutual date. Makes it less obvious that someone had to pay for it.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But it’s what’s underneath that counts.”

At that, you repeatedly kicked Xigbar with as much viciousness as you could muster. He didn’t even flinch.

“I see. Yes, she ‘blends in’ well. I came to make sure you’re attending our meeting Monday morning,” Saïx continued, having lost his nanosecond of interest in you.

“Of course I’ll be there.” Xigbar gestured exasperatedly at the food still in front of him. “Can I have some peace now?”

“Of course.” Saïx left without giving you a second glance.

“That hurt, you know,” Xigbar said as soon as Saïx was out of earshot. “Just for that, we are not ordering dessert.”

“Like I would eat dessert with a man who just tried to pass me off as a second-rate prostitute,” you hissed vehemently.

“Hey! Not ‘second-rate’! A paid escort who happens to be incognito, that’s all!”

“I can’t believe I’m arguing over semantics with you about something like this,” you groaned, rubbing your temples.

“Because I’m obviously right?”

“No! Just – uugh!” You threw your hands up. “How about we drop this and focus on something more important? Who was that guy just now? Another Org member?”

“Yeah: Saïx. He’s lower in the Org than me, but he has the ear of both Xemnas and Xehanort.”

“Am I also to assume he’s not a fan of yours? Like Luxord? And is it a problem that he’s seen my face?”

Xigbar gave a dry chuckle. “Just assume everyone hates me, despite all my natural charm. And don’t worry about him. Saïx doesn’t pay enough attention to people to register them. Unless he thinks you’re valuable to him, he won’t pay you a second thought.” He suddenly raised a hand to flag the nearest waiter. “I know I said no dessert, but I can never resist.”

You took this as a cue that your conversation was over for now. Dessert came quickly, and it was also delicious. You sat back in your chair, completely sated.

“I’m pleased to say that this interview went well,” Xigbar said after he had ordered a digestif to complete your feast.

“I get the job?” For better or worse, it seemed like your course was set. You’d have to deal with the consequences later.

“I’m talking about hedging my bets. This was to see if I thought you’d make a good partner in crime.” He raised a hand to pause your inevitable objection. “I know. You’re not a criminal. Just a saying, doll.”

“Why _do_ criminals like you and Saïx walk around completely in the open? You two have obviously been here before, the staff know you. No wonder we’ve had an easy time getting so much evidence on you for our case,” you mused worriedly.

“Wow, OK. One: you don’t get to say ‘our case’ anymore. You’re working with me now, not for Luxord,” Xigbar said exasperatedly. “And, two: this town only has two types of people. Those who profit from the Organization and those who live in fear of it. Actually, many people profit and are afraid at the same time – but the point being that this town eats out of our hand. We pay the cops; you have firsthand experience that the DA is in our corner. There’s never been a problem with us walking around the city like we own it.”

You glanced nervously around. “Shit. What if the detectives are here now? And they report back to Luxord that I’m here with you?”

Xigbar shook his head. “Of course I thought of that. I told you that already, but if you want to know the details: they are on the tail of some of my subordinates doing a very shady deal very far outside of the city limits. You really think you’re dealing with amateur hour over here?” He pointed to his head. “Look at these gray hairs. I think they speak for themselves.”

You couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up, and Xigbar looked proud to have drawn a real smile out of you. Once the giggles had subsided, you said, “I guess they do. From what I’ve seen of the Organization members so far, you all have very distinctive features, so I can’t believe you could ever truly hide.”

Xigbar scoffed and put a hand to his heart. “Is that your polite person way of telling me that I’m ugly?”

You glared at him. “Ugh, no fishing for compliments.”

He grinned. “So, you’re saying…?”

You huffed and looked away. “That’s my polite person way of saying you know you’re handsome, so drop it.”

Xigbar was grinning like a fox in a hen house and looked like he wanted to say something else, but the waiter appeared with your final drinks just then. “And your bill, whenever you’re ready as always, sir,” he said quietly, setting it in front of Xigbar.

The one-eyed man eyed it disdainfully. “All good times must come to an end I suppose.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Shit, is that the time already?” He put a credit card down and it was quickly whisked away. “Time flies when you’re having fun, but there’s still some key points that we need to discuss. The first step will be for the long haul, but it’s key to the entire process. We need someone in your office who we can trust, who shares your precious morals. This person will help us actually prosecute the case once we’re ready. And some detectives wouldn’t hurt, either. No one will know about me, of course. You should get some people in mind and start cultivating these relationships now.”

“Already done, I think.” Without mentioning their specific names, you told Xigbar about Aqua, Terra, and Ven at the DA’s office. And there were three detectives who you were really friendly with: Kairi, Riku, and Sora.

“Wow! That really moves our timeline up by quite a bit… quite a bit indeed,” Xigbar said, wide-eyed.

“Jeez! I am likable. I have _friends_ ,” you said with mock offense. “Maybe _you’re_ just jaded from years of being in a friendless criminal syndicate.”

“Yeah,” Xigbar laughed. “When you work with a lot of unsociable weirdos-”

“Like that Saïx?”

“Like Saïx. You forget that it’s not that hard for someone to be friendly with people.”

“Happy to be of service. Any other next steps, or have I knocked it out of the park within my first few minutes,” you asked, miming a swing with a baseball bat.

“Besides being your usual, likable self, I’m gonna’ need you to keep an eye out for any mention of a black box.” Xigbar greatly emphasized the last two words.

You blinked. “A black box? That could be anything from a cookie tin to a freaking coffin. Can you give me some more to go on?” Xigbar handed you a photograph of a sinister-looking, large trunk. “Is that leather,” you asked, peering closer.

Xigbar scratched his chin. “I’m certain it’s _some_ sort of skin,” he said. He shrugged at your responding look of horror.

“Well, the red marks are certainly distinctive. I haven’t heard anything yet, but I’ll let you know if it comes up.” You glanced at him nervously. “Um, do I want to know what’s in this box of mystery flesh, or shall I be content in my ignorance?”

“Probably the latter, sweet pea,” Xigbar said lightly as he signed the receipt that was just brought back to the table.

You blew out an exasperated breath of air and put the photo in your bag. “Fair enough.”

“If you hear anything, contact me on this,” Xigbar said, handing you a phone. “I know it may not make a lot of sense, but the first step in bringing down Xehanort is finding that box. It’s bound to be with one of the other Org members. They don’t know that I know that they have it, and they don’t know it’s mine in the first place. So all we have to do is find it and lay the trap.” Xigbar smiled broadly and shrugged his shoulders. “Simple as that.”

“If you say so,” you mumbled, not really following. “Is that really all we have to go on, though? How’re you sure it’ll even show up?”

“Trust me, darlin’. Your goons are following my every move and reporting back to Luxord, right? Well, I’m going to be a very busy boy next week. That’ll make whoever has the box nervous. I’m sure of it.”

“Alright. Guess I’m on box patrol.”

“Good hunting, sweetheart.” Xigbar stood up. “Now, let me take you home. It’s on my way to my next meeting.”

You didn’t feel like walking home in the rain after such a rich meal, so you nodded. As you stood up, Xigbar wrapped an arm around your waist.

“What’re you doing,” you whispered nervously.

“Appearances, doll. You’re meant to be my escort after all,” he said with a devilish smile.

Resigned, you left his hand where it was and walked through the restaurant lobby with a fake, cheesy smile. “If you even think about moving your hand…” you hissed threateningly out of the corner of your mouth.

“Wouldn’t dream of it… well, a man can dream, but I wouldn’t _do_ it,” Xigbar drawled. At least, in this respect, he was true to his word. A chauffeur had already pulled up with the car by the time you were out of the building, and he opened the passenger door for you.

“So, where’re you off to next,” you couldn’t help but ask as Xigbar pulled away from the restaurant.

“I’m not really at liberty to disclose my next nefarious undertakings,” Xigbar said wryly.

“What? Aren’t we, like, partners in crime now? That's what you said,” you asked.

Xigbar laughed as he glanced quickly at you. “Babydoll, you really aren’t cut out for this life of crime. I told you: it was just an expression. Not some official title. You can’t be so trusting right off the bat, you know. Besides, you’ll get the gist of it from those reports the detectives give you.”

You blushed at Xigbar’s mockery of your naivete and vowed to not talk the rest of the car ride. Instead, you spent the time watching the rain rush down the passenger window and made internal bets on which drop would reach the bottom of the pane fastest. When you finally pulled up to your building, you got out of the car as quickly as you could. “Thanks for the ride, I’ll let you know when I hear something,” you said rapidly and then slammed the door, running through the storm into the building.

As Xigbar pulled away, he chuckled to himself. He couldn’t believe that fate had practically dropped the key to the final step in his plan in his lap, just when he thought he was facing his greatest setback. He allowed himself just one glance in the rearview mirror and a few seconds to imagine a different life where he could have spent a dinner date with you that never would’ve included the words ‘Organization XIII.’ But then he quickly locked his eyes back on the road in front of him and continued down the path he had been following his whole life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the third chapter written; it just needs to be edited and posted. The rest of the plot is storyboarded but not yet written, so please be patient with updates! I'd love realtime feedback on how the plot is progressing, and I can improve/adjust as I continue :)


	3. The Stakeout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a possible lead on where this mysterious box of Xigbar's might be! But do you find what you're expecting to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of dark, cramped spaces, feelings of fear, and mild bodily pain.

The next workday, you volunteered for interview and reconnaissance transcript review, to the immense relief of one of your coworkers who had currently been stuck with it. It meant you were up to your ears of pages and pages of text to review (literally, the stacks of papers on your desk were quite high), but you figured it was your best way of finding out about that box Xigbar was intent on locating.

For a few days, it seemed like your efforts were getting you nowhere. There were pages overflowing with details of illegal dealings, but that no longer captivated you. Now you were solely fixed on teasing out any thread connected to that mysterious box. You marveled at how quickly your whole worldview had changed.

Finally, a week later, you saw something that piqued your interest. “The package is with the Icy Academic now,” you read quietly to yourself. Flipping through the previous pages of the call transcript, you didn’t see any mention of shipments or logistics. ‘So, on a call that’s not about one of Xigbar’s many arms deals, there’s mention about some special item,’ you thought. ‘Could it be the box? It’s not a lot to go on… but who would store weapons with an academic? The box could blend in at one of those university labs, probably.’ Deciding it was enough of a lead to warrant following up, you grabbed the phone Xigbar had given you out of your bag.

_Hey dinner was nice the other night. Want to meet up again?_ You decided to message something innocuous in case the phone ever fell into the wrong hands.

The reply was immediate.  _Been waiting all week to hear from you gorgeous_

_I was beginning to worry you wouldnt message_

_I cant wait to see you. Lets do tonight ill pick you up_

Blushing, you texted back a thumps up. The fact that fake flirty texts had you red in the face spoke volumes about the recent state of your love life, or lack thereof. Xigbar responded with a kissy face, and you promptly and literally threw the phone back in your bag.

“Who’re you texting? I haven’t ever seen you blush like that,” Ven teased loudly as he walked up to your desk. “Aqua said you had a date the other day. Did it go well?”

“Oh, did she now?”You glanced wearily over at Aqua, but she quickly averted her gaze to stare intently at something on her monitor. “Yeah,” you said through gritted teeth, turning back to Ven with a forced smile. “It went well.”

Ven winked as he continued walking past. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”

Luckily that was the only teasing you had to endure for that day. You worked silently until 5 and then promptly packed your things and rushed back to your apartment. There was a black car already pulled up to the building. As you got closer, a hand appeared out of the driver’s window and waved. You got in the passenger seat.

“Hey, babe. Fancy a stroll through the park for our second date,” Xigbar asked, grinning like a fox.

You fussed with getting your seatbelt on so he wouldn’t see the color in your cheeks. “This is one of the few days it hasn’t rained, and the sun is still out. Why not?” As the car pulled away, you glanced at the radio and wondered what kind of music Xigbar listened to. Feeling impulsive, you reached forwar d to turn it on.

“Hey, don’t mess with stuff,” Xigbar said gruffly, swatting at your hand while keeping his eye on the road.

“I just wanna’ know what you listen to,” you insisted, pressing the button. The speakers crackled to life. “Is this… public talk radio,” you asked, stifling a laugh.

“I don’t get a lot of time to sit and read what’s going on. Knowledge is the key to success. I need to be sure I’m aware of everything,” Xigbar said irritably, switching it back off.

“Well, we’re gonna’ be in traffic for a while, so how about I connect up my phone – unless you just want to talk now and get it over with?”

Xigbar shook his head. “No. I told you: I’m taking you on a walk. We can talk there. If I have to suffer through some bad music-”

“Hey!”

“I guess I’ll just have to deal.”

You wondered why he was choosing to spend more than the bare necessary amount of time with you. Probably just because he liked being enigmatic and off-putting, you figured. For the rest of the ride, you treated Xigbar to the best music in your phone. You felt strangely at ease, explaining your top songs as the car inched its way through traffic. As the minutes crawled by, you still didn’t know why Xigbar was adamant about spending time with you, but you honestly didn’t mind. He even seemed to be somewhat enjoying himself i f the small grin on the half of his face you could see was anything to go by. It all actually made you feel a bit…  at ease.

“ Next time, I expect you to si ng along,” Xigbar said playfully as he parked. 

“Ummm, no way,” you retorted, getting out of the car and stretching your legs.

X igbar just shrugged, and the two of you entered the grounds of the park. There were couples milling about and families playing on the grass, but there was still plenty of space. You two could have a conversation without anyone overhearing you. Then, you felt Xigbar’s arm around your shoulders.

“Let me guess. We’ll attract less attention if we look like a regular couple,” you asked sardonically.

“That’s the idea.”

You shrugged and let yourself be drawn closer to The Freeshooter. But inwardly you were hyper-focused on the sensation of his muscled arm around your shoulders. You enjoyed the feel of his hand on your skin. You felt yourself drawn towards the rest of his body as your footsteps synced up.  Despite the danger and how maddening you found him, you wanted to see more of him. And he had just willingly endured an hour of your favorite music with complete commentary. If you didn’t know better, it was almost as if you were starting to enjoy Xigbar’s company.

‘ No way,’ you thought. ‘Like he said, we’re not partners. This is just mutually beneficial. We help each other and we go our separate ways. He doesn’t end up in jail, and I don’t end up, well, dead… This feels so nice right now, though…’

“ Lost in thought, doll?” Xigbar’s voice cut through your inner monologue.

To your horror, you had been leaning your head against him in your reverie. Lurching away, you ducked out from under his arm. “There’s no one around. Let me tell you what I found out.”  You swore you could’ve seen disappointment flash across Xigbar’s features, but his countenance immediately became serious as  you launched into a description of what you had read that morning.

“ That’s referring to Vexen at Radiant Laboratories. What would he be doing with the box…” Xigbar kicked a rock and closed his eye.

“Think it’s a false alarm,” you asked hesitantly after a few minutes of silence.

“I think so. But I’m intrigued about what it  _ could _ be. I think it’s still worth checking out.” He grinned at you. “Up for a stakeout?”

You felt a surge of adrenaline. “Uh, yeah! Who would say no to that?”

“Probably  anyone in their right mind. And you have no idea how often people forget this next bit: use the bathroom before, OK?”

And that was how you ended up spending the late hours of Saturday and Sunday in a rented van with Xigbar as you sat just outside the entrance of Radiant Laboratories. You took note of guard shifts, what time trucks came in and out, and all the different security measures in place that you could see. Xigbar was proud of his reconnaissance abilities, and he explained what to pay special attention to as you sat staring through binoculars together.

“Aren’t you perceptive for a one-eyed man,” you commented Sunday night after he had finished yet another explanation on some fact about ‘observing your target’.

“In the kingdom of the blind, sweetheart, a one-eyed man is king. And all these idiots are blind as fuck.”

“I didn’t think kings spent their weekend nights hanging out with commoners, eating bags of snacks, and keeping tabs on random security guards, whose yawning, by the way, is really starting to get to me. If your incessant mansplaining doesn’t put me to sleep, these guys’ yawning will.”

“A king does whatever the hell he wants, princess, and if I want to eat junk food and hang out with you, that’s what I’m gonna’ do. I do agree about this pair of guards, though, they’re quite a buzzkill. And a pair of disgusting nosepickers – for fuck’s sake, have some self respect.” Xigbar stopped peering through his binoculars to cast a peevish look at you. “And I do not mansplain. You’re on real thin ice  now after that earlier  comment about using a telescope.”

“You have only one good eye,” you interjected.

“Yeah, but I’m not a freaking eighteenth century pirate!”

“You’re the one wearing an eyepatch,” you muttered.

“ Well, you sure as hell wouldn’t want to see me without it,” Xigbar retorted gruffly.

You paused, putting down your binoculars and glancing over at the man next to you. “I’m… I’m sorry, Xigbar. It must’ve been awful. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”

Xigbar snorted and swung his binoculars towards you. “Was that  _ sympathy _ I heard just now? Is that  _ kindness  _ I see on your face? Of course, what do I know, even with the binoculars—I only have one eye.” He shook his head dramatically. “Clearly you’ve learned nothing from me yet, babe, because those aren’t emotions criminals have. Illegality 101,  darling .”

You rolled your eyes and went to say something back but just gave a yelp as you felt your shoulders seize up. Wincing, you adjusted them and rubbed at your neck. “Well, are criminals allowed to feel agonizing pain? Because my spine is probably permanently fucked up from spending hours in this seat and I have work tomorrow morning. Can we call it a night?”

“ Fine. I’ll drop you off. I think we have everything we need anyways.” As he drove away, Xigbar glanced at you as you hissed in pain, rubbing at your shoulders. “Does it really hurt, babe?”

“Is that _ concern _ ,” you asked sarcastically. “I would think Illegality 102 would go over why that emotion was also forbidden.”  It felt like literal waves of pain were crashing up and down your back,  and you were unable to keep the venom out of your voice.

Xigbar didn’t say anything in response, but you did notice the speedometer tick upwards quite a bit. He threw the van into park as soon as he was in front of your building and quickly got out.  Then,  the van’s back doors opened. 

“ Sit back here,” he commanded.  C onfused, you did as he said, going around and climbing to sit cross-legged in the back of the vehicle. “Turn around, so your back’s to me,” Xigbar said impatiently as he stood in the night air.

“OK, but what’s the point of all – oh. Ooh, that feels good.” Your original question died on your lips as Xigbar brought his hands to your shoulders, gently squeezing and massaging your aching muscles.

A fter he had warmed up the muscles, his fingers started to dig in deeper, working to release the nerves that were causing you so much pain. You let out soft sighs as his hands found your points of stress and coaxed them into relaxation. He kneaded and smoothed out the knots all along your shoulder blades. You could feel the callouses on his fingers catch on the fabric of your top a little bit with each push. You wondered how they would feel moving over your bare skin.

“ Any better,” he asked, pulling his hands away slowly after a few minutes.

Y ou rolled your shoulders tentatively. “All better, actually. Thank you, Xigbar,” you said sheepishly, turning back to face him.

The tall man just shrugged into the warm night air. “Just glad it wasn’t raining… or cold,” he said dismissively.

Some of the warmth that had infused your body just moments earlier dissipated. You climbed out of the van and stood sheepishly next to him. “So… why do you do what you do when you could be a masseuse instead? You’re pretty good.”

Xigbar rubbed at one of his own shoulders. “I’ve been doing this sort of thing for years, angel. Have to know how to keep my arms limber. It wouldn’t be good if I had to go shoot one of my guns and my shoulder seized up on me.”

“How… how often  _ do  _ you have to shoot people,” you asked timidly, looking at him with some of the fear from the first time you had met him.

Xigbar just looked at you, unblinking. “I don’t think we should have this conversation. It’ll give you nightmares.” He turned away. “Go to bed and get some sleep.”

You  shuddered a little but did as he said. 

The next morning at work, your shoulders didn’t hurt a bit but you were still irritable. You hadn’t had nightmares as Xigbar had feared, but you had tossed and turned, wondering how to balance the fact that you knew what Xigbar was (a cold-hearted criminal) but you also knew how he made you feel (‘finally alive’ was probably the best way to describe it, if you were being honest with yourself, you had decided last night). Or was it the situation and not the man that made you feel alive? Ultimately, you couldn’t figure out how you should feel, and that annoyed you. Ven had stopped by your desk that morning with a smile to chat, but you had just waved him away irritably. As you glanced up and saw his slumped shoulders walking away, you felt distinctly like a monster.

At lunchtime you went digging through your bag for your wallet so you could grab something to eat,  when you saw the phone from Xigbar flashing. You had a message.

_ H ow’s the shoulder gorgeous _

_ Its totally fine, thanks _ was your response.

_Glad to hear it_

You waited for another message. When nothing came after a minute, you sent one more text.  _ Was there anything else? _

_No, just checking up on you. I was worried_

Wasn’t this the man who had lectured you last night about not caring? Would you ever be able to figure this guy out? You sighed, trying to ignore the strange happiness you felt about him checking up on you, and got up to go get lunch.  A lmost to the cafe, you swore after realizing that you had totally forgotten your wallet.

* * *

“She’s been lost in thought a lot this whole week,” Ven said worriedly to Terra on Thursday. “What do you think’s up with her?”

Terra glanced at you across the office and shrugged. “Probably has a lot on her mind, that’s all.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Aqua scoffed, poking her head into their conversation. “I saw her texting earlier. She’s planning to meet that mystery man of hers this Saturday night.” The men just stared at Aqua vapidly. “Don’t you two dummies know what being  smitten looks like,” she asked exasperatedly. 

“Ooooh,” they both said, unconvinced, looking over at you.

“Are you sure she’s not just hungry,” Ven asked skeptically.

“Or maybe she’s just dealing with inner turmoil,” Terra added.

“You two are hopeless,” Aqua muttered, getting back to her own work.

* * *

That Saturday night found you and Xigbar in another car parked outside Radiant Laboratories. This was to be your last stakeout; Xigbar said he’d been able to come up with a plan to deal with the guards and disable the security system after the last shipment of the night so you two would be able to sneak in and have a look around for the box.  All you had to do now was wait. After a few minutes of Xigbar ribbing you (“Is the seat ergonomic enough for your highness”), you both fell silent as you waited for the plan to commence.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” you said nervously, “what exactly do I need to do? I’ve never done anything like this…” Having been tricked into the Organization’s evil schemes was one thing, but this was outright  breaking the law , and it made you anxious.

“Don’t worry, babe. Just follow my lead, OK? You’ll be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“You swear?”

“All the fuckin’ time.”

“That’s not what I-”

“ I know what you meant, sweetheart.” Xigbar looked at you exasperatedly. “C’mon, there’s no one with a machine gun hiding in there. And, remember, Luxord hasn’t made his move yet, so I still have plenty of influence in this town if a situation does arise.” Xigbar sighed at your hesitant nod. “O K – how about a game to pass the time? Would that help you calm down?”

Y ou perked up a bit. “What kind of game?” And before you knew it, you had passed through a few rounds of ‘Fuck, Marry, Kill,’ each raunchier than the last. “Oh no! No – Xigbar, you’re insane,” you half-laughed, half-groaned at his last answer.

“ _ You _ gave me shit choices! All right, how about this: Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy the… whatever-he-is. Go!”

You grimaced. “No way! That’s disgusting. I’m not answering that.”

“So you pass on this one? You can only pass once; that’s the rule.”

“Definite pass,” you said confidently.

Xigbar’s smile turned more devious. “OK, then: me, Luxord, Saix. Go.”

Blushing and stammering, you tried to formulate an answer. You couldn’t believe that you had walked right into Xigbar’s trap! Part of you was saying to just put an end to the stupid, childish game… but part of you also wanted to see where playing would take you.

“I… I guess kill Luxord, because working for him has been terrible. And Saix is handsome enough, so I could survive one night with him,  but probably nothing more… s o I’d marry you, I guess.”

Xigbar chuckled. “Such a sentimental way to play the game. You’re not being creative enough.”

Your embarrassed blush morphed quickly into red-faced shame. You hadn’t known what kind of response your answer would get, but you certainly weren’t hoping for  _ that _ . “Oh, yeah? Saix, Luxord, me. Go,” you said angrily.

“ Easy,” Xigbar said, starting to tick his choices off on his fingers. “I’d kill Saix because I fucking hate him. And I’d marry Luxord but then immediately murder him for his life insurance policy. And of course I’d fuck you. It doesn’t  _ have _ to be a one-time thing. There’s nothing that says it can’t happen more than once if you’re able to come to some arrangement.” Xigbar grinned. “See? It’s all about thinking creatively.”

Y ou nodded absentmindedly, not really hearing his last sentence. Had Xigbar just propositioned you, basically? And was there part of you wanting to make said arrangement  with the undeniably handsome man  a reality?

Or was he just messing with you? And if you tried to approach the topic, would he laugh at you for being naive like he’s done so many times already?

You were so caught up in trying to puzzle it all out that you didn’t see Xigbar watching you out of the corner of his eye, smirking and savoring how clearly his words had affected you.

The shrill beep of a phone cut through the silence of the car. You were so deep in thought that it startled you, but Xigbar quickly picked it up and put it to his ear. His demeanor changed from playful to deadly serious in an instant. “Yeah? ...OK, good. Give me as long as you can. I’ll call you when I’m out.” Xigbar ended the call and started up the car. “Guards have been taken care of. Security system is off. Now all we need to do is drive in, get the goods, and get out while we can.”

You put all thoughts of the previous game aside. “Yeah –  _ we _ . Heard a lot of ‘I’ in that phone call just now. There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’,” you grumbled. A minute ago there was sexual tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, but now your petty soul was caught up in being left out of the criminal conversation.

“Well, there’s an ‘I’ in ‘prison’, which I’m trying to keep you out of. No one can say anything about you if no one else knows you’re here,” Xigbar grumbled as he maneuvered the car through the lab’s empty parking garage.

“Alright, I get it. … Thanks,” you added begrudgingly.

“Don’t mention it. Literally.” Xigbar grinned as he tossed you a flashlight.

The lab relied  solely  on technology for its security once you were inside, and you were grateful there had only been a few guards outside to worry about. All of the doors opened easily for you, their keypads and scanners useless. You swung the flashlight around painstakingly, making sure you looked in every corner for that box. After a few hours, Xigbar and you had scoured most of the  structure .

“This building isn’t that big. There can’t be that many places this thing would be hidden,” you said, rolling your neck and trying to fight off fatigue. “There’s only one or two rooms left, right?”

“Yeah, there should be just the freezer left. That’s where Vexen stores his supposedly latest and greatest concoctions.” Xigbar’s golden eye cast about the space around him. “Unless there were some secret rooms that weren’t on the floorplans.”

“You want to go pulling on certain books in the library, see if a passageway opens up,” you teased. You continued talking before Xigbar could make a retort. “Sure, go ahead and doublecheck. I’ll go check out the freezer.”

T he two of you subsequently split up. You found the freezer, expecting the door to be more high-tec, but it looked like the entrance to any old walk-in unit. You grabbed the heavy silver handle and tugged. The door pulled away slow ly and a blast of frigid air hit you. Shivering, you pointed the flashlight inside.

All you could initially see was a bunch of shelves filled with vials of liquid. Dreading the  cold , you walked inside as the door swung shut behind you. Your flashlight was the only source of light in the pitch-black, ice-cold room. After searching near the door, you tried the lightswitch you were able to  find , but it didn’t do anything. “Hmm. Must’ve got deactivated with the rest of the security,” you murmured. The rest of the rooms had windows, which allowed for some outside light to seep in, but in here you could only see a few feet in front of you. The rest of the surrounding space was covered in darkness.

Y our breaths, visible as small puffs in the beam of your flashlight, started to come faster. Your chest tightened in panic, and you willed yourself to try and stay calm. Shakily, you moved the flashlight back and forth as you searched each shelf for this mysterious box. The light glinted off glass vials and encrusted shards of ice, but still no box. You moved towards the back wall. There seemed to be a space without shelving – maybe it would be there.

Your heart leapt with excitement as your beam fell on a large, black container! Was this it? You hurried closer – but no. It was a stack of long, black bags. There was something inside each one – seemingly uniform, stacked nearly to the ceiling.

Flexing your frozen fingers, you peeled back the plastic sheeting, eager to know what was inside.

A pale hand dropped out of the side of the bag, knocking your flashlight to the ground. It went out.

You screamed in the inky darkness and jumped back. You felt yourself crash into a shelf behind you, nearly knocking it over. The glass vials  full of unknown chemicals clattered in their holders loudly and you kept screaming.

Bodies. You were in a room full of dead bodies.

Gripping the shelves, you fumbled your way back towards what you thought was the entrance. You couldn’t see anything, and your hands were starting to lose feeling. You came to a wall and started to run your hands over it, feeling for a door. There wasn’t anything. Had you gone the wrong way? Lurching sideways, you knocked into another shelf. As its contents  rattled , you heart hammered in your chest. Was all the sound just from the glass containers, or had you just heard something behind you? Were the bodies not dead?

Starting to hyperventilate, you frantically waved your arms about, not caring if you knocked into any shelves. The door. You had to find the door. Finally, your hand smacked into the handle and you let out a howl of pain. There was still enough feeling in your hands to register  _ that _ .

You felt tears freezing to your face as your stinging hands scrabbled at the door handle. It wouldn’t budge. You started to kick and pound on the door in terror.  You cried out, hoping that Xigbar was close enough to hear you.

Then, you heard footsteps. Where were they coming from? Behind you? You stared into the darkness in terror. Was whatever  that was in that bag coming for you?

“Babe! What the hell is wrong with you? You’ll get us caught.” Xigbar’s irritated voice suddenly came from the other side of the door. 

“Xigbar,” you sobbed, so grateful to hear his voice. “I’m so happy it’s you! Open the door! There are bodies in here, tons of bodies! Please, the door is stuck, there’s no light! Get me out, get me out of here,” you screeched in terror.

“Fuck. Hold on – just hold on, OK?”  The door shook as Xigbar tried to pull it open from the other side. “Come – on – you – big – fucker!”  The door flew open with a sudden crash. You ran out of the freezer into warmer air and collapsed on the tile floor.  Searching the previous rooms , it had seemed like you were crawling around in a cave, but now the dim streetlights shining in were like the sun in comparison with what you had just been through.

“ What the _ hell _ is in there,” you gasped out, eyes wide in terror.

“ I’ll  go and  find out. C’mon, sweetheart, hold this door open so it doesn’t jam,” Xigbar said. You did as he requested. He emerged a few minutes later, shaking his head. You let the door swing shut and started rubbing your hands furiously to bring heat into them; you winced as your injured hand started to throb.

X igbar quickly took off his coat and threw it around your shoulders. “Hurt yourself,” he asked softly. After you nodded, he gently took your hands into his calloused ones. “Here, this’ll work better.” He exhaled onto your hands a few times, warming them with his breath. “Keep them in the pockets, they’ll warm up.” After a moment of hesitation, he pulled you into his arms, rubbing his hands up and down your back. “Hey, it’s OK. You’re OK. You did a good job. You’re safe now, doll.  I’m here. I’m here for you, OK?  Don’t worry.  You’re safe ,” he murmured.

You closed your eyes, feeling warmth infuse your body. Your heartbeat started to return to its normal rhythm rather than a rapid drumbeat. You weren’t numb anymore, and your injured hand was tender but it was  no longer throbbing in pain. After a minute, you realized Xigbar had stopped saying anything, and he was just standing there, holding you,  his arms wrapped tight around you. Clearing your throat, you took a step back. “Thank you, Xigbar,” you said softly, tightening his coat around yourself. “But  _ what _ is in there? What kind of place  _ is _ this,” you asked again  pleadingly.

Xigbar frowned. “Those aren’t dead bodies. They’re… it’s tough to explain… they’re not corpses. They’re…  _ fake _ bodies. Not dead, not alive. They’re Vexen’s pet project.”

Y ou blinked confusedly. “Fake bodies? Are you making some sick joke? What would something like that even be used for?”

“No, sweetheart, I swear,” Xigbar professed, his jaw set tight. “I know you’re spooked. I’m not joking, OK? I wouldn’t do that to you.” He relaxed a bit, seeing that you believed him. “If you can insert a sample of DNA, these things can take the form of whatever person you need them to. They can’t  _ do _ much, at least not yet. As far as I know. But they’re great for replacing important figureheads. They can do some basic motor functions: nod, smile, grip a pen and sign what you need them to in front of lawyers, that sort of thing. Just don’t try and have a conversation with them.”

Your jaw was nearly on the floor. The implications of this  were mind-boggling. “I’ve never seen anything like this in what I’ve read. This… this explains so much… about the rise of the Organization…”

Xigbar nodded grimly. “You’re smart, babe. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably right. And I doubt Luxord would want you to see this. I’m not in charge of this at all; this implicates many more in the Organization than me.”  His golden eye looked you up and down concernedly. “How’re you feeling? You got quite a scare in there and I imagine this is all quite a shock.”

You smiled. “Hah, it’s a lot to take in, but I’m OK. I promise.”  Now that you could see and weren’t scared of freezing to death, you were much calmer. You also felt better now that you could understand what you had witnessed.

“ Good. You’re my partner; you can’t quit on me now,” Xigbar said, grinning.

“Yeah! We’re partners,” you said sincerely, joyfully as you let his jacket envelop you.

“C’mon, partner. The box isn’t here. Let’s go before someone catches us.”

You followed him out. “Want your coat back?”

“Nah. You were really scared. You probably pissed yourself. I don’t want a piss-stained coat.”

“Ugh! And I thought you were being nice to me,” you said annoyedly.

“As if!”

With a huff, you continued walking. But, in all honesty, you were elated to get to keep his coat, no matter the gross reason he made up.  You were starting to suspect that Xigbar was a snide, sarcastic villain on the outside – but, on the inside, there was a heart, just as tender as your own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- How DO these fake bodies in the Kingdom Hearts-verse really work? Are they ever truly explained? Here I've imagined them as much more practical and not the vessel for some esoteric heart/soul concept. 
> 
> \- In my head, the basic premise for this whole fic was: 'OK, so it's like a sexy buddy cop movie fanfic but like you're the bad guys... but not the WORST guys.' That's probably terrible but I love writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> \- The temperature of the fic picks up very shortly in the next chapter. Sadly though, I have less of the chapters fleshed out from here, so updates won't be as frequent. Please keep leaving your comments and thoughts! They're really inspiring as I write more. Thank you to Kuroi_Nezu for constant feedback!!


	4. The Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a lead on the craziness you saw at Radiant Laboratories that leads you to somewhere you never expected. But it seems as if Xigbar and you haven't been as sneaky as you had thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major spoilers near the end of the chapter if you haven't played KH3!

The day after searching the lab was Sunday, and you spent it firmly encased in your apartment. You figured you had earned some lazy rest and relaxation time. The weather had even turned warm, so you opened your windows to let in a fresh breeze, but you went nowhere near your freezer. No matter how nice some ice cream sounded, you still felt scarred from your experience yesterday.

When Monday morning rolled around, you woke up sufficiently rested to head into the office. After listening to Ven talk about his weekend for a bit, you made your way to your desk and sat down to work. A few hours in, you heard the buzz of Xigbar’s cellphone that you kept by you at all times now. You were checking it more frequently than your regular phone at this point.

_Hey gorgeous – need to hear your voice. Give me a call_

You got up from your desk and headed towards the exit to take the call out on the sidewalk. You must’ve been walking quite hurriedly, though, because Terra called out, “Hey, where’s the fire?”

“Haha, no, I just have a call.” You blushed as Terra, Aqua, and Ven stared at you expectantly. “A super important work call. That I’m going to make outside. Very, uh, urgent. Top priority.” Ven and Terra shrugged and went back to their work, while Aqua failed to hide a knowing smile behind her mug of coffee. Grimacing with embarrassment, you made your way outside.

Xigbar picked up on the first ring. “Babe. You in a place you can talk?”

“Yeah, I stepped outside,” you said, glancing around to make sure no one was loitering too close.

“Cool. This business with those fakes we found in the freezer. I don’t think you were supposed to see that bit of conversation that led us there.”

“Why? You think Luxord is involved,” you whispered. It made sense that if Luxord was trying to incriminate someone from his own criminal network, then there were bound to be slip-ups like this where evidence of Luxord’s own crimes could be found, too. It was amazing that it hadn’t happened to a greater degree yet, but, then again, Luxord probably had a whole team of people dedicated to making sure that it didn’t…

“That’s exactly what I think. One way to know for sure: find out if the phone you tapped is still being monitored. If-”

“If it’s not, then they found out that person could provide a link between the Organization and Luxord,” you interrupted excitedly.

“Yeah – if they’ve corrected their mistake, then we know there’s something there.”

“Something besides your run-of-the-mill, everyday nefarious schemes?”

“Those fake bodies are no joke. I’ve spent all morning wracking my brain, and I’m sure that none are even supposed to exist right now. Somehow Vexen has been making them clandestinely. And I have no idea what for, which is a big deal.”

You heard the agitation in his voice. “OK. I’ll look into it. But what about the box? Is that on pause for now?”

“As if. Don’t you get it, sweetheart? This is sure to lead us to the box.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I’ll let you know when I find out anything.”

“How about over dinner at the end of the week?”

“I – but, I mean, I’ll probably know something before then,” you stammered out. You were just trying to let him know you could probably tell him before then and he wouldn’t have to wait that long.

Xigbar chose not to take it that way. “Yeah that’s right. You’re quick. Wednesday night, then.”

“S-sure?”

Xigbar ended the call. You stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes, just blinking. Somewhere along the way, Xigbar went to being your number one target, to a threat, to a nuisance, to a partner, to a… friend? ‘Yeah, a friend you really want to bang,’ a voice in your head said smugly. You shook your head to try and drive it away. How had your life changed so completely in just a few short weeks?

* * *

The next morning, you headed to meet one of the detectives who you trusted and who you had mentioned to Xigbar before: Kairi. You had been able to get in touch with her yesterday  after your call with Xigbar .  S he’ d said that it was bedlam at the moment but that you could come by the  next  morning to talk with her about anything you’d like. Grateful, you brought your best smile and some breakfast pastries to share.

Kairi smiled widely when she saw you walking up to her desk and stood to give you a quick hug. “Have a seat? Ooh, food? Let’s eat before Sora sees and tries to hog it all!”

You nodded, happy to oblige. You thought that you really should make it a point to stop by and chat with Kairi more often, not just about work stuff. She was always in a good mood no matter what, and her desk was always full of beautiful plants in full bloom. You didn’t understand how it was perpetually spring at Kairi’s desk; she seemed to have an irrepressible green thumb.

You asked about what all had been going on yesterday, and she filled you in. It seemed that her, Riku, and Sora all had a tendency to go overboard in their investigations, so they all needed to take turns bailing each other out. “So, what’s up? You sounded a little stressed, too, on the phone yesterday,” Kairi asked, daintily nibbling on a croissant after she had finished her story.

“I was wondering about this transcript,” you said, handing over a copy with the key quote highlighted. “Do you know if the folks on the Xigbar case are still bugging this person’s calls? Do you have any other conversations on file? I haven’t seen anything else come down to the DA’s office yet.”

“Hmmm, let me take a look,” Kairi said, frowning. She wiped her fingers on a napkin and then got to work on her computer. After a minute, she shook her head and turned back to you. “Sorry, the authorization was rescinded after that one call. But you’ll have to talk to your team about that. Do you think they made a mistake?”

Y ou cleared your throat nervously. Of course she’d wonder why you hadn’t gone to someone in your own office for the answer; that would’ve been the logical next step, not asking a random detective. “Oh, everyone’s just so busy and it’s all so bureaucratic. It’s so much more enjoyable to come chat with you about stuff. And  I don’t know any of the detectives working Xigbar’s case that well, so I don’t feel comfortable asking them questions like this. I never get to meet them; they just drop papers at my desk. ” In reality, only Luxord’s right-hand lackeys issue d warrants and the like, so you knew any questions to them would be immediately flagged to Luxord. And of course you couldn’t trust any detectives working on Xigbar’s case.

Kairi smiled sympathetically, accepting your explanation at face value. “I hear you.”

“So… you’re not aware of anyone monitoring Dr. Vexen? Or Radiant Laboratories?”

A curious look passed over Kairi’s soft features. “I don’t think so. Let me doublecheck, but I really don’t think so…” As she typed on the computer, she glanced back at you. “It’s interesting you’d ask that, though…”

“Is it? Why,” you asked hesitantly. You didn’t want to accidentally give anything away.

“Like I thought, there’s nothing.” She turned back to you and smiled. “How about I show you why? That’ll be better. You fancy ice cream?”

After your terrifying Saturday night? And coupled with the fact that the day was weirdly cold and foggy despite yesterday’s warmth? And, to top it all off, after you had just filled up on an unreasonable amount of breakfast pastry? No. No, you were not particularly fancying ice cream. But your interest was piqued. “Sure! Lead the way.”

Kairi grabbed her coat and headed out. She stopped by the cubicle Sora and Riku shared to see if they wanted to tag along, but they weren’t there. “It’ll just be us girls, then,” she said, linking arms with you. She took you to the nearest downtown subway station and you two boarded a train. You were worried for a second that she wanted to go to Radiant Laboratories with you, but you were relieved to be going in the opposite direction. After a few stops, she signaled your stop was the next one. You emerged from the subway in a much more residential part of the city, one you didn’t venture into much. The weather was still dreary, but the houses and small shops made it much more cheerful.

‘I really need to get out more. But it’s hard to want to see more of a  city when you hate it,’ you thought.

“The place I want to take you is just around the corner. Have you ever been around here before?”

“No. I’m excited to try someplace new. What’s your favorite flavor at this place?”

“They only have one: sea-salt,” Kairi said happily.

You tried not to let the surprise show on your face. It seemed like a strange business model. “Oh, OK. I’ve never had that before.”

When you got to your destination, tucked away on a side street, there was a further surprise. The ice-cream shop was part of a large, warehouse-looking building. “Oh, it’s in a… distribution center?”

“You wouldn’t expect it here, right? It used to be a warehouse that wasn’t torn down for houses, but it shut down a few years ago. My friends have turned it into an indoor field area for a frisbee sport they invented,” Kairi said nonchalantly, holding the door open for you. “The ice-cream parlor is their cafe. I don’t play much, but I come by for ice-cream often!”

“Oh, how very… niche,” you said, at a loss for anything else. You thought hanging out with a one-eyed master criminal was weird enough, but somehow this whole excursion was topping it.

It was only 10 in the morning, so the place had just opened and it was empty. To the left was a cafe area, but the rest of the space was divided into different arenas separated by plexiglass. You saw some various boundary markings painted onto sections on the floor.

“Here, have a seat. I’ll go grab some ice-creams and you can meet my friends.”

“All right,” you said. As soon as Kairi was a few feet away, you surreptitiously checked your phone for any emails that could get you out of there in a hurry if necessary. You hadn’t expected to need to make small-talk with strangers. Why had Kairi dragged you here? ‘Oh, no – is she trying to sign me up for some intramural urban sport league club?’ Your palms started to sweat. ‘Just say no. Remember the kickball debacle last year. Say no now, and you don’t have to keep making up bouts of stomach flu every weekend to get out of matches.’

“Here you go!” Kairi’s cheery voice and an ice-cream shoved in your face interrupted your thoughts. “And here are my friends I wanted you to meet: Roxas, Lea, and Xion.” You stood up to shake hands, trying not to drip ice-cream onto anyone.

Roxas was a blond young man who looked uncannily like Ventus. Lea was tall and had the brightest, spikiest, reddest hair you had ever seen. And Xion was a petite young woman with short, black hair. You introduced yourself and they all sat down with ice-creams of their own.

You awkwardly began a question inquiring into the mechanics of their newly invented frisbee sport, but Kairi interrupted. “She’s here because she was asking questions about Vexen. I thought you could help her.”

Dumbstruck, you watched as the trio exchanged knowing glances.

“We all used to be in the Organization,” Xion said in way of explanation.

“But not anymore,” Roxas added defiantly.

“Yeah, we got out. So, you’re asking about ol’ Vexen? Him and I got into some pretty wicked fights back in the day,” Lea said, stroking his chin.

“Uuuuh… yeah, yeah. Anything you can tell me?” You were glancing rapidly back-and-forth at the people around you. How did Kairi know this group? How did they get out of the Organization? You had so many questions.

“We don’t normally keep in contact with active Org members, but Roxas and Xion happened to see Vexen the other day,” Lea said, nodding his head towards his friends.

“Yeah, he was meeting Demyx at the Central Square fountain. It was so weird,” Xion said, wrinkling her nose and taking a bite of her ice-cream.

“Those two _never_ hung out together,” Roxas agreed. “I can’t imagine what they have to talk about.”

“They’re complete opposites,” Xion scoffed. “Vexen would only meet with Demyx if it was a literal life-or-death situation.”

 _That_ got your attention. “OK. So I guess my next step is to look for this Demyx person,” you murmured. It didn’t seem like much to go on, but the three were adamant that this serious.

Seeing the confusion on your face, Lea chimed back in. “That’s your best bet, chief. Vexen is a tough old nut to crack, but Demyx will sing like a bird.”

“Literally, he might sing. He really likes music,” Roxas said, laughing.

You nodded, grateful for any insight they had.

“You haven’t eaten a bite of your ice-cream! It’s dripping all over! Roxas, could you go grab some napkins,” Kairi interjected.

Startled, you realized she was right. “At least it’s just on my hand and not all over my clothes,” you said sheepishly.

While Roxas was away, Kairi continued talking. “You’re probably wondering how I know three ex-Org members. Well, you know Sora, Riku, and I joined the force together, right? Before that, back when we were in the Destiny Islands, Riku got into some trouble and got mixed up in a bad crowd. Sora and I were able to help him luckily, and we  pulled him out of  the mess he had gotten himself into. Riku had gotten involved with a group that calls themselves The Heartless, but we found out that the Organization was really the one pulling the strings. They control various groups all over. We all decided that we wanted to fight the Organization, no matter what it takes. That’s why we all came to Radiant Garden.  It’s obviously been much different than we anticipated, but we’ve never given up. We vowed that we’d carry on the fight unofficially if we had to.  And that’s how I met these three goofballs!”

“Maybe those two  are , but  I’m not a goofball ,” Xion said, laughing.

As everyone laughed and continued talking, you were deep in thought. You had no idea that Kairi, Riku, and Sora were so deeply involved in fighting the Organization – actually _fighting_! Since the police and the DA were so corrupt, there was the need for _some_ folks who looked like they were actually acting in the public interest. That was where Kairi, Sora & Riku and Aqua, Ventus & Terra came in. They were the ones to investigate and prosecute actual crimes in the city. It was always just small stuff, never enough to actually threaten the status quo – but they were part of the razor thin patina of legitimacy that allowed the Organization to keep its hold on power.

It had been made clear to the rest of you whose work actively helped the Organization that you were never to discuss that aspect of your job with those six. That was why, even though you were drawn to how nice and charming they all were and could tell from the first instant you met them that they were genuinely good people, your conversations and friendships had always been fairly superficial so far. The reason why you had originally considered them to help you in the future once you were ready to turn the tables on Xehanort was the reason why you weren’t able to get close to them.

You wondered how this affected your plan with Xigbar. Did this make them even more perfect for the role… or potential adversaries? Would they like what you and Xigbar were planning or try and stop you? Originally, you hadn’t planned on telling them where you got the info on Xehanort, but now you wondered what would be the right thing to do. You’d have to talk to Xigbar about it. You wondered if Aqua, Ventus, and Terra were helping Kairi and her friends…

As if reading your mind, Kairi spoke up. “Aqua, Ventus, and Terra help us out. They have a grudge against the Organization, too. And Xion, Roxas, and Lea want to see the Organization pay for everything they’ve done. So, please let us know what you find out about Vexen, OK?”

You looked up from thought in surprise. “Oh, wow. All nine of you? OK, sure. Are you not following up on this yourself?”

Kairi shook her head. “We have too much to do as it is. It’ll be great to have one more person helping out.” She smiled apologetically. “I don’t know if I can tell you _everything_ right now…”

“Oh, no – of course, of course,” you said, vigorously waving your hand not covered in ice-cream. “This has been a huge help so far.” You cleared your throat. “I mean, it’s all for the Xigbar investigation and all. So, we’ll see,” you said weakly, sad that you had to be so dishonest with them. They were taking you partly into their confidence; you wished you could do the same, but there was so much at stake!

“Here you go! It took me a while to find these,” Roxas said proudly as he finally returned, presenting a stack of napkins to you. He continued to speak as you cleaned your hand and the puddle of ice-cream on the floor. “We’ve started over. We’ve tried to just forget about the Organization. But the stuff they’ve done… it’s unforgivable. We’re always ready to help any way we can.” Xion and Lea nodded determinedly in agreement.

“Thanks, everyone. This is really great to know. I’ll try my best to keep you posted,” you said sincerely.

A group of teenagers walked in, talking loudly and throwing a frisbee around.

“Looks like we have customers,” Lea said excitedly, getting to his feet.

Kairi and you took your leave after that. Both of you were silent on the way back to downtown. You were mulling over everything you had just heard. Kairi decided to speak her mind just as you were parting ways in front of her office. The mist was thick, and it made it difficult to see, but you could at least see the genuine worry etched across her youthful face. “Be careful, OK? I don’t know exactly what you’re up to, but it sounds like you might be trying to make some _real_ trouble for the Org. Not just… well,” she blushed and gestured vaguely. You imagined that she was basically referring to your whole day job. “It can be… difficult to know who to trust, but I’ve always had a good feeling about you. I’m glad I was right.” She smiled at you expectantly, but you didn’t know how it was safe to respond. At your silence, her smile turned a little sad and she squeezed your arm. “I know from experience with Riku and Sora that it’s no good trying to change your mind, but, please be careful. And know we’re always here for you.”

You felt a pang in your heart. You wished you could confide in her. You wished you were as good as she clearly thought you were. Instead, you just tried to suffuse your voice with as much warmth and gratitude as possible as you said, “Don’t worry, Kairi. I promise you I’ll be fine.”

Kairi’s eyelids lowered knowingly. “People are always promising me a lot of things. I hope you don’t have to end up breaking yours,” she said in a bittersweet tone. She turned and walked up the stairs to the precinct office.

You just stood in the fog for a few minutes, listening to the footsteps of surrounding people you couldn’t see. Then you sighed and shook your head. It was late in the morning; you needed to hurry to your own desk.

As you turned to walk away, you ran straight into someone who suddenly emerged from the fog. With a gasp, you tried to step out of the way, but the person stepped in front of you. “You had better watch out where you’re going,” a sinister voice growled.

You grimaced as a cruel face emerged from the mist: Vanitas. He was one of the highest-ranked detectives and, rumor had it, the favored assassin of Organization XIII.

“I would if you could let me get by,” you said annoyedly.

Vanitas smiled sadistically and continued to block your path. You had the distinct displeasure of having had to work with Vanitas on a few cases; you’d seen his malice upfront, but this was the first time any of it had been directed at you. “I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine,” he hissed.

“You have friends,” you asked bitterly, giving up for now at the chance of ending this conversation.

“In a manner of speaking.” A young, silver-haired man materialized from the fog just beside Vanitas. He didn’t give his name; he just looked at you disdainfully.

“I see you both have the same impeccable manners. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” you muttered sarcastically. “ But, I’m late for work, so-”

Vanitas’s eyes flashed. “You’ve been quite busy outside work lately, haven’t you?”

You just glared at him,  trying not to show any fear.  What did they know?

“Yes, been to any nice restaurants lately,” the young silver-haired man asked. Your mouth narrowed to a thin line.  Your pulse quickened. “Or our lovely city also has many nice parks,” he continued.

“ What is with this weird-ass interrogation? Excuse me, I’m late for work,” you said angrily, moving to get past them.

Vanitas’s hand grabbed your arm. “You go when we say you can go,” he snarled.

“Now, now, Vanitas. There’s no need for that. I think this has been a satisfactory introduction,” the other man said smoothly, not at all unruffled by Vanitas’s sudden outburst.

The black-haired man scoffed angrily but let go of your arm. “Say hello to little Venty-Wenty for me,” he sneered. Then he stalked up the steps and into the building.

You were disgusted. Vanitas had some weird obsession with Ventus for some reason that none of you could figure out. He even liked to say they were ‘long-lost brothers’. It creeped everyone out. Aqua and you always made sure to hide Ventus when Vanitas came around. One time it took the form of literally shoving  an indignant Ven into a broom closet for  fifteen minutes, but it had worked.

T he silver-haired man gave you a small bow. “Until next time,” he said ominously, following his companion.

You stood for a  few minutes, trying to calm your breathing. Then, you took a few steps on shaking legs towards your office. Swearing, you stopped and took out your regular phone and sent an email to your boss that you were taking a sick day and apologized for the late notice. Next, you got out Xigbar’s phone and called him. He picked up on the first ring. “Dinner tonight. Not tomorrow,” you said immediately.

“I love a woman who knows what she wants. I’ll pick something up on my way over.”

* * *

When Xigbar arrived that evening, he wasted no time on pleasantries. He  immediately tossed  the food  on the table and  quickly starting poking his head into every room of your small apartment.

“ Xigbar! We have important things to discuss,” you  said exasperatedly, following him as he looked around.

“I just want to see what your place looks like. I’ve been curious since I dropped you off here the first time – ooh, the _bedroom_!”

Blushing, you blocked his way in. “Hey! What’s your deal?”

“You’re right, babe. I’ll have to _earn_ my way in,” Xigbar said with a wink, turning around.

“You’re hopeless,” you sighed, unsure whether you were talking to the man in front of you or to your own stomach, which was full of butterflies at his words.

Xigbar chose to ignore the comment. “So, why the rush? Do you actually have something to tell me or were you just that desperate for my company?”

Flopping onto the couch as Xigbar got out the food, you started your story. You expected him to start eating as you were talking, but he seemed to be riveted by everything you were saying. His eyebrows jumped when you described the conversation with Kairi and the ex-Org members, and his face showed even more surprise when you mentioned Vanitas and his ‘friend’. Food totally forgotten, Xigbar had come to sit next to you on the couch. He whistled lowly once you were finished. 

“Can you help me make sense of any of that,” you asked in finishing, throwing your hands up.

“ We got on the right path, following up on that lead with Vexen. It was pure luck that this Kairi turned out to be such a help, though.”

“So, you’re not worried about her? That’s good to hear. I was honestly wondering if I should trust her, let her know what’s going on…”

Xigbar frowned. “Hold on there. I’m not worried but I don’t think it’s a good idea to fill her in on everything. Strictly on a need-to-know basis, which she doesn’t right now.”

“Ugh, fine.” You sighed. “She said she knew the Org from before, from some business with Riku and Sora. Didn’t their names ring any bell when I mentioned them at the restaurant?”

Xigbar just shook his head. “Do you have any idea how many disgruntled loved ones and would-be heroes have tried to stand up to us? So many that I’ve lost count. And they’ve all ended up just losing out. How’m I supposed to remember every one? Anyways, that’s not what’s most interesting. The really interesting trio you discovered was Roxas, Xion, and Axel. Well, ‘Lea’ now, I guess, but I knew him as Axel.”

“So you remember  _ that _ group?”

“Of course. Saix was supposed to have been hunting them down. Funny that he’s claimed for months that they’re untraceable, and here you practically summon them out of the blue.”

You wrinkled your nose. “You think he’s, like… protecting them?”

“I’m not sure… but it’s an interesting twist. Saix and Lea go way back. I always assumed our blue-haired maniac had forgotten all his feelings for his former friend but maybe not. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

“OK. And what about that Demyx person? Is that useful?”

“Yeah. He owns a music venue on the outskirts of the city. We’ll pay him a visit.”

“So those two talking is as inherently suspicious as everyone said?”

Xigbar laughed. “You haven’t met them, but you sa w Vexen’s lab, right? Meticulous, spotless. Well, you’ll see Demyx’s place of ‘work’ this weekend, and I think you’ll understand.”

“ Cool. Glad it was all worth it!” You paused, afraid to ask the next question. But you knew you had to. “So, Vanitas… I’ve had to work with him before.  I know he’s a creep, but the rumors I’ve heard are even worse... How much trouble am I in? …  And who is that silver-haired boy? ”

X igbar’s expression darkened. “Vanitas is a rampaging homicidal maniac, and that’s putting it mildly. Xehanort has that rabid dog on a leash but just barely. I’m annoyed that he’s in the mix; I don’t like dealing with him. And the second character to complete the evil boy band duo was ‘Young Master Xehanort’,” he said with undisguised disgust. “He’s some relation of that old coot’s who’s eager to learn the family business. I have less of a read on him. He’s probably there to mind Vanitas.” Xigbar paused and then nudged you with his shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about them, though, OK? I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“I trust that,” you said sincerely. “But what really scared me is that they’ve obviously been following us. Vanitas shouldn’t be working Luxord’s investigation of you.”

Xigbar nodded. “You’re right. It’s concerning. Clearly the old man knows we’re up to something. It was an artless move, though – intimidation always is – so I feel like he’s grasping at straws.” You gestured for Xigbar to keep explaining. “Well, Luxord’s case is taking longer than it should. I mean, I do a lot of pretty awful stuff, if I do say so myself. It shouldn’t be taking this long.”

“He spends most of Monday through Friday at his casinos; that could always have something to do with it,” you interjected drily.

“And most of his weekends. Like I was saying, the old coot is probably getting anxious, so he sends Tweedledee and Tweedledum to intimidate  you. They’ve probably been on my trail for a while now. They were hoping you either got scared and dropped out or you’d keep going. Either way it’s a win-win for them.”

You shook your head, confused. “ _ How _ ? Those two actions are the opposite of each other.  _ Both _ can’t be winners – one has to be a losing option.”

“Not so fast. They didn’t mention Vexen’s lab, did they?”

You thought back. “No. Only dinner and the park. I thought we were lucky they didn’t know about the lab.”

“They know alright. They didn’t mention it to make you feel safe.” Xigbar held both hands out. “So: two options. One is that you quit altogether, leaving me alone, which suits the old man fine. The other is that you feel safe towards still investigating what Vexen is up to, and so you do that. Gramps obviously suspects Vexen of something but knows he can’t trust Vanitas to find out what it is. As you saw, the man has all the finesse of a turbo-powered chainsaw. And maybe he doesn’t trust the others in the Organization.”

“So what do we do?”

“Go talk to Demyx of course! The old man is nervous about what that ice-cold nerd is up to, and that could only mean good news for me.”

“But how can you go talk to this Demyx without being followed?” You gasped, just remembering something. “What about my trip with Kairi today?! What if they saw where we went?”

Xigbar glanced at his phone. “I dunno’. I didn’t hear any news about whole buildings randomly burning down or a gruesome triple homicide, which, believe me, is exactly what would have immediately happened if Vanitas and Young Xehanort had found those three there. Thank your lucky stars.”

“Or maybe Kairi knew it was safe to go,” you suggested thoughtfully. “She obviously knows more than we ever imagined.”

Xigbar shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. But, getting back to that pain-in-the-ass Demyx. I’ll think of something to keep those two creeps of our tail when we go see him.”

Your eyes narrowed. “That’s what you basically said at the restaurant and now look at us.”

The Freeshooter grinned sheepishly. “I had hoped you’d forgotten that particular comment. What a pity you hang on my every word.” He stood up from the couch. “Let’s say we eat, huh? It’s not five-star restaurant fare, but it’s good.”

There was something else you wanted to ask – but your stomach let out a growl, so you relented. You had Xigbar unpack the food while you found something on TV to watch, and the two of you sat back on the couch, balancing plates and eating. You were only half-focused on the program; your mind was still going over your previous conversation and you also couldn’t help studying Xigbar out of the corner of your eye. … OK, it was mostly the latter. You thought he looked quite content on your couch. And when you had both eaten your fill, he made no move to get up, seemingly happy to let the next episode of the series start auto-streaming.

“I was wondering…” you paused the show but faltered as Xigbar looked over at you. “The whole Vanitas thing kind of has me spooked. Will you… I mean could you… could you stay for a bit?” Xigbar stared at you openly with a look of surprise on his face. Oh, boy – you had clearly misread his comfort levels. You wanted to curl up in a ball of shame. “Uh, nevermind! You’re probably busy-”

“That’s not it, babe. I’m just not used to people asking me for help. I’m usually the one they’re afraid of is all.” He frowned. “I _do_ have a meeting later tonight that I can’t miss…” He faltered at the look of disappointment you couldn’t keep from showing. “But I can stay for a few more hours if that helps.”

“Who has meetings at midnight,” you muttered with a smile on your face as you turned the show back on.

“Criminals,” Xigbar sighed. “...Hey, do you have popcorn? Should we make this a movie night?”

* * *

Xigbar glanced over at you again as the credits rolled. You had fallen asleep about halfway through. He thought about waking you but found you too cute. So he used the opportunity to prop his feet up on your coffee table without being reprimanded and wonder about why it made him so happy that you felt so safe around him, movie completely forgotten.

He checked his phone for the time and groaned. He’d be a few minutes late. The Master wouldn’t like that. He couldn’t believe he allowed himself to stay this long here!

Xigbar stood up and turned off the TV.  He looked down at you as you shifted in your sleep on the couch, pulling a blanket tighter around yourself. Should he leave you out here? Carry you to your room? 

No. Bad idea. Xigbar tried to ignore his cock hardening at the thought of climbing into bed with you.

Even more disturbing? He felt his heart fluttering. Since when did his _heart_ have anything to do with fucking?

The Master had given him the codename of ‘Luxu’ when he was younger for a reason. He had found out that he loved seducing women; it wasn’t necessarily even fucking that he loved. It was the _power_. Knowing that someone would do anything for him if he asked. Knowing that someone was pining for him. Sometimes all he would take from his victims would be a wistful sigh, a lustful embrace, a forbidden kiss, or a night of passion – but once he knew for sure that he was the object of someone’s desires, he left. There had been no greater high for him.

Except he’d met you and things had started to change.

Xigbar shook his head. He couldn’t afford to miss this meeting. Not when they were so close to their goal that Xigbar had spent so many years working towards. ‘So many _lonely_ years,’ he couldn’t help thinking.

Xigbar shook his head more violently. He couldn’t afford thoughts like that, either. He tucked the blanket in around you and sent a text to your phone for when you wake up that he was sorry to slip out unannounced but he didn’t want to wake you and he’d let you know about Saturday’s concert.

As he turned to finally leave, you moved a little in your sleep again. “Xig...bar….” you said quietly. He paused at the door and closed his eye for a moment, imagining a life where he could lay down on the couch next to you and kiss you awake.

Instead, he made sure to close the door as softly as he could. He tried to ignore the tightness in his chest that he felt at leaving you but failed miserably.

* * *

“Heyoooo! _There’s_ the indispensable Number 7! I was worried you were gonna’ be a no-show,” the Master of Masters said in his usually boisterous way, slapping Xigbar on the back.

Xigbar bowed slightly. “Sorry for my tardiness.” He knew the Master well enough to hear the rebuke within the seemingly light-hearted banter.

“Not at all! Down to business. Have you found a way to get rid of that stinking old coot? He’s been around for long enough, served his purpose, and it’s time for him to be shown the door, wouldn’t you say?”

Xigbar nodded as the cold sea air bit into him through his coat. He hated when they had to meet on the pier. It was always empty at night, but it was always so  horribly cold,  too . “Yes, I’m working on it. There was a small obstacle I had to overcome, but I was able to turn it to my advantage.”

“Oo-oooh? What was it? I want to know!”

“Xehanort has had Luxord initiate an investigation of me.”

The Master whipped around from staring at the moon to face Xigbar. The Master’s hood obscured his face like always, but Xigbar felt that he was being studied carefully. “And how exactly were you able to turn that to your advantage,” he asked softly, dangerously.

Xigbar didn’t even blink. He’d known this question was inevitable. And he had already decided that he didn’t want your name anywhere near the answer. “It gave me my own idea to get Xehanort thrown into jail first. I’m working on that now.”

“Alone?”

“I’ve hired a firm of private investigators. It’ll cost a fair sum, but I understood that you wanted this done as soon as possible,” Xigbar lied smoothly. Fake invoices and phony wires had already been arranged in case the Master went snooping.

“Yes, of course, money is no object! But why not just shoot him, Luxu? You’ve gotten so good at that!”

“I need to recover the box, sir, which is what I’m primarily using the investigation for. Worst comes to worst and I’m unable to locate it, I’ll ransom the prepared case for it.”

“Ah, I see! And then?”

“And then I’d shoot him.”

The Master laughed boisterously and clapped. He turned back to the sea, glittering with reflected moonlight. “Perfect, perfect! I’m so reassured to know that you have everything under control. Excellent work as always.” The Master waved his hand in dismissal, not looking back. “On your way back, send over Aced. He should be waiting. Unless he’s late, too.”

Xigbar gave a slight bow. “Yes, sir.” He walked back through the maze of rusting warehouses to the nearly empty parking lot. The only one there was Aced, impatiently pacing. “Yo! The Master is ready for you now.”

“Finally,” Aced bellowed. “You always take so long, Luxu! Don’t you know the rest of us have important business with the Master?”

Xigbar just stared. “I forgot that you’re so sensitive for such a big guy.”

“Bah!” Aced pushed  past Xigbar to make his way through the warehouses to the Master.

Xigbar just leaned against his car. Aced was easily manipulated and a fierce fighter. Xigbar grinned; luck was on his side – Aced was the perfect candidate to trick into helping him protect you. Hell, he’d  _ make  _ Aced help if push came to shove. He couldn’t trust any underlings from the Organization; they were probably all reporting on him to Vanitas and/or Luxord. And he wanted to make sure you were safe.

“Why are  _ you _ still here,” Aced shouted after returning from his meeting with the Master. “Were you listening in? You know that the Master commands all our instructions to be given individually and secretly.”

Xigbar bit his tongue. He couldn’t be too caustic; he needed this idiot’s help. “I can’t hear anything from  here , obviously. And if I followed you to listen in, why would I come back here to stand in plain sight?” Xigbar continued before Aced hurt himself trying to answer this rhetorical question. “I have a favor to ask, Aced. I need your help. I can’t trust this to anyone else.”

Aced’s chest swelled with pride. “Oh, I see. Of course. Exactly what is it, Luxu?”

“The Organization is becoming difficult to handle. Some members are starting to cause trouble for our Master’s plan. Could you help keep some of them occupied for me?”

“That sounds easy.” Aced narrowed his eyes. “Does the Master know of this?”

“Nah. I didn’t want to burden him. He has enough to worry about as it is. This is only a minor glitch.” Xigbar feigned a perplexed expression. “But if you  _ can’t _ help me, then I’ll be forced to tell him that I asked you but you refused. Because if you can’t help me, they’ll definitely derail the Master’s plans. And he’ll want to know why they failed.”

“Leave it to me,” Aced roared. “Who are my targets?”

Xigbar sent Aced his files on Vanitas and Young Xehanort. Aced frowned as he reviewed the files on his phone. “A madman and a child?  _ This  _ is what troubles you, Luxu?” He laughed derisively. “I knew that the Master shouldn’t have entrusted you with such an important task-”

“ You don’t even know what my mission  _ is _ , dumbass – none of us do,” Xigbar muttered under his breath.

“But I will help you!” Aced nodded smugly.

“Thanks, bud. Knew I could count on you,” Xigbar said as he got in his car. He smiled to himself as he drove away. He’d kept his promise to you.

* * *

I n his own car, being driven to his compound, the Master of Masters was on the phone. “Yes. I think the situation with Luxu has – what? Xigbar, whatever. I think the situation is more serious than before. He lied to me today. … Some shit about hiring a firm. … What? A girl? Luxu? That’s ridiculous… Fine. … No, not yet. It’ll spook him. … No, don’t kill him either. I need him alive right up until the end. Just make sure that he can swiftly be taken care of once everything is over. And don’t you dare fail me.”


	5. The Concert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xigbar and you make plans to find out what Demyx is up to. But things go a bit differently than expected...

_Got tickets for Sat night_

_Here’s the address. I’ll probably have to meet you there_

You looked at the place on your phone. It wasn’t too far from a subway station.

_Great_

Xigbar texted back a thumbs-up.

“What’re you smiling about,” Aqua asked, although her demeanor suggested she already knew the answer.

“Uh, going to a concert this weekend. That’s all,” you said, quickly pocketing the phone.

Aqua’s eyebrows rose. “ _ With _ your new… friend?”

Shit. How much had Kairi told Aqua already? Would Aqua put 2+2 together? You cleared your throat. “Yeah. But for him it’s just a concert. He, uh, doesn’t know anything,” you said, glancing nervously around the office.

“Oh, I see. Mixing business and pleasure?” So Kairi obviously  _ had _ talked to her. “You’re nothing if not efficient…” Aqua’s words were innocuous enough, but she was looking at you much more intently with those blue eyes of hers. 

And, indeed, she seemed to keep an eye on you much more the rest of that week; always managing to be close to you somehow when you were trying to contact Xigbar. Normally your office relied on Aqua’s killer instincts, but now you were cursing them. You’d have to be extra careful with what you said around her!

Luckily you managed to make it through that week without a major slipup, and Saturday night finally rolled around. You dressed and got ready with butterflies in your stomach. It felt much more like you were preparing for a date rather than an important mission. But you had been eager to see Xigbar ever since he had hung out with you on Monday night.

You had woken up so disappointed to find him gone.  You remembered dreaming about him – calling his name. You had been looking for him in your dream. You had been so sure that he was looking for you, too, but something had been keeping you from finding each other…

Not only did you want to know where he had gone, but you also wanted to figure out exactly _ what _ you were to him. A true friend? A partner? … Possibly something more? Because your heart had never ached after someone like it ached for Xigbar when you  woke up and he wasn’t there . You had always found Xigbar attractive, despite your best judgment, but it was getting even harder to ignore now as you felt a deeper attraction to him.

Once you were ready, you took the subway towards Demyx’s venue. You kept a wary eye out for any sign of Vanitas and his handler, but you were glad to not see hide nor hair of them. It seemed like Xigbar really had found a way to keep them busy. As you got off at your stop, you hung back on the platform and dawdled on your phone.  Satisfied that all the passengers had gone ahead and no one was waiting for you to make the next move, you comfortably continued to where you’d meet Xigbar.

A nd when you saw your one-eyed man waiting for you just outside the subway exit, the butterflies started up again. His ensemble hadn’t changed that much, but he had ditched the trench coat and in its place just wore a black, short-sleeve shirt. You could see the taut, corded muscles of his arms – and the various scars that covered them. You wanted to trace each one with your lips, know every story.

“ Babe. You look even sexier than usual,” Xigbar said in a gravelly voice, his golden eye roaming over your body, “which I didn’t think was possible.” He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around your waist. “We have a mission and here  _ you _ are, making it tough to concentrate.”

“I could say the same to you, Xigbar,” you said as he fell into step beside you.

You felt his grip around your waist tighten. “OK, now it is  _ very _ difficult to focus,” he muttered. He shook his head and exhaled slowly. “How’s your week been, darling? Haven’t seen enough of each other lately. I didn’t even get to drive you over here.”

“ Busy. The investigation’s been picking up, and I’ve been trying my best to slow it down a bit. But I can’t do too much or I’ll be discovered.”

“I didn’t know so much consideration went into being a bad employee.”

“And you?”

“The old coot has kept me busy with missions. Trying to keep me away from working on bringing him down.”

“But if everyone knows everyone is against each other, why bother with all this artifice?”

Xigbar chuckled. “That’s how we do things. Artifice can become a way of life. Besides, I doubt if any one person really knows  _ everything _ that’s going on.”

“Even you?”

“I’m probably 99% there. Your ass is keeping me from getting that last 1%. Too distracting.” Your breath hitched as his hand twitched on your hip. He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m a good boy, I know my boundaries.”

You didn’t trust yourself to respond coherently, so you just shook your head. You wanted nothing more than for Xigbar to indulge himself in grabbing your ass, and you felt yourself getting wetter just thinking about it.

“Well, here we are at Demyx’s shithole club, The Nocturne.”

You looked up. T he place  _ was  _ kind of a shack. It looked like the kind of place that college kids flocked to for cheap booze.  Inside the bar, the lighting was dim and the air was hazy and filled with music and shouts of laughter. There was a bar off to the side, but most people were on the dance floor, enjoying the band performing on the small stage. “What’s the plan,” you yelled over the din.

Xigbar started t o answer, but a couple knocked into him in their haste to the dance floor. Scowling, he pulled you over to the bar and ordered two beers. “First, we come over here where people aren’t treating me like a bumper in a pinball machine. Second, we drink desperately needed booze.”

You tentatively took a sip. You immediately regretted it. “This is  _ horrible _ ,” you coughed out.

“Demyx is always coming up with new ways to horrify. OK, nix the beer. We pay the bartender a ridiculous amount of cash to let us stand here without drinking and not get kicked out.” He promptly slapped some bills down onto the sticky counter. “Now we wait until Demyx is on stage and then we’ll go raid his office. You’ll know him when you see him, he has a blond mullet. And you’ll know when he’s onstage. Just listen for the music to suddenly get worse.”

“ Wait, aren’t we here to  _ question _ him?”

Xigbar laughed. “Demyx would talk all right, but the information would be at least half wrong. No, it’s better to just do it this way, believe me.”

“Alright. So what should we do to pass the time? Do you dance,” you asked, grinning and pointing towards the packed dance floor.

Xigbar looked at you with raw hunger in his eye. Your pulse quickened.  The beat of the music was loud, and every muscle in your body wanted to give yourself over to it in Xigbar’s arms.  The tension between you two was unmistakable. “...No,” he said with great difficulty. “I don’t want to risk losing focus. We’ll need to be quick searching Demyx’s office. Stay sharp.”

A little deflated but not totally deterred, you contented yourself with people-watching and wondering exactly how many scars Xigbar had. As the room filled with more and more people, it become louder and  more cramped . You tried to hold your ground as much as possible but found yourself forced to shift slightly every so often to accommodate the increasing press of bodies all around you.  Even though Xigbar had mocked Demyx, you wondered if everyone was there to see him play.

Suddenly, you felt Xigbar’s hand around your waist again. “Stay close, OK? I don’t want someone thinking your available for a dance and stealing you away. Can’t afford to lose you now, partner,” Xigbar said gruffly, not quite meeting your eyes.

You smiled. “That’s assuming I’d  _ let _ someone take me away.”

Xigbar grinned and pulled you towards him a bit more. You hummed appreciatively and turned so your back was pressed against him. It was loud chaos all around you, but you were hyper aware of the pulse of the music and Xigbar’s body pressed against yours. You looked down at his hands on your hips and decided that they  were a perfect fit there.

S ome more folks jostled around you two, breaking into your reverie, and you annoyedly shifted to try and stop from being elbowed. You kept getting bumped more, though, so you pressed further into Xigbar. You felt his grip on you tighten. You swiveled and twitched your hips, trying to avoid a man carrying a bunch of sloshing beer glasses over to his friends. Xigbar grunted.

“Sorry, did I bump into you?” He didn’t answer. “Xigbar? You OK?” Turning around, The Freeshooter’s golden eye was looking right at you.

“Scuse me, everyone – coming through!” As a loud group of people barreled through, you shifted again – and felt it. Something hard.

Startled, you looked up at Xigbar, who was actually  _ blushing _ . Emboldened by your new discovery, you moved your hips. More strategically this time.

“Babygirl, what do you think you’re doing,” Xigbar rasped into your ear.

“Do you want me to stop,” you asked, slowing.

“No,” Xigbar moaned, grinding into you.

“Then I’m not doing nearly as much as I  _ wish _ I was,” you murmured in response, pressing your ass  against Xigbar’s erection.

“ _ Fuck _ !” He started pushing you through the crowd towards a side door at the end of the bar, elbowing everyone out of your way.

“ D-do you know where we’re going,” you asked, not having expected this.

“No, but hopefully it’s a bit more private than here,” Xigbar grunted as he pulled open the door. Once he’d pushed you through and slammed it shut, he quickly rounded on you and pressed your body up against a wall of the narrow hallway you found yourself in. There was a closed door at the other end but no other people.

“ I can’t believe you. I’ve been holding myself back by a fucking thread for  _ weeks _ . I only have so much self-control.  There’s no going back if we do this... ” 

Your breath caught in your chest under his smoldering gaze. His hands pinned your arms to your sides and his body was flush against yours. Your could feel how hard his cock was, how hard he was panting, see the longing in his eyes.

“Xigbar, please,” you gasped. “I want-”

Y ou weren’t able to finish your sentence as Xigbar’s lips crashed against yours. Your eyes fluttered closed and you kissed him back needily. His lips were hot and soft as they moved against your own. You felt his tongue against your lower lip and you opened your mouth with a moan, inviting him in.

Xigbar responded hungrily, pressing his tongue against yours. He brought one hand up to your ass and the other caressed the side of your face. Now that your hands were free, you entwined them around the back of his neck, pulling his own body closer to yours.

Xigbar groaned and lifted you off the floor, completely pinning you between the wall and his body with your legs around his waist. You reveled in the taste of his mouth, the sounds of his pleasure, the hardness of him pressing into you, and how his hands groped and squeezed your ass, his fingers pressing into your soft skin.

Xigbar pulled away, nipping lightly at your bottom lip. “Is this what you want, baby,” he growled in your ear. He dipped his head down to suck at your neck. “You want my hands all over you, huh? You want me to take you right here up against this wall?”

You groaned as one of Xigbar’s hands fondled your breasts and you arched your back into his touch. “I want  _ you _ , Xigbar,” you whimpered.

Xigbar leaned forward for another open-mouthed kiss. You buried your hands in his hair as your tongues danced together, wet and soft. You had never known kisses so intoxicating and passionate as this. Xigbar’ s passion was practically devouring you, and you were desperate to  show that you felt the same way.

“ Oh, baby – babygirl, you have me,” Xigbar panted, breaking away again and pressing hot kisses along your neck. “And I’m going to make you mine.” He bit down roughly, drawing a loud moan out of you. The sharp pain was a jolt of excitement and quickly blurred into pleasure. Xigbar’s cock was grinding roughly against your clit through all your clothes and it wasn’t enough – you  wanted more. “All mine.  I’ve wanted you so fucking bad for so long; I’m going to take you right here. ”

You whimpered as Xigbar continued to lick and suck at your neck. You tilted your head to give him more access. Your eyes rolled back in pleasure. He was finding all your sensitive spots, biting just the right amount to send a thrill up your spine every time.  The growing ache between your legs was reaching a crescendo. You needed release. You needed -

“Pardon me, lovebirds! Don’t mind me!”

Xigbar stopped his ministrations. Your eyes, which had been closed in ecstasy, snapped open. Over Xigbar’s shoulder, you caught the sight of a young man squeez ing past behind Xigbar  in a blur ,  but you were sure that he was toting a giant, blue sitar.

The two of you just stood there, dumbfounded, as who you assumed was Demyx opened the door back to the bar to a loud, raucous cheer from the crowd and disappeared into it. Xigbar pulled himself away from you slowly. Your legs slowly released from around him and your feet touched the ground again. You both stood there, catching your breath and staring at one another.

“At least he didn’t recognize me,” Xigbar muttered.

“Are you sure?”

“Considering that I had my face buried in your neck like a vampire who’s just come off a diet? Yeah, I’m pretty sure. And lame jokes aside, he would’ve said something.”

Had he seen _your_ face, though? You couldn’t believe it – you had totally forgotten about what you had come here for in the heat of the moment. All your focus had been on Xigbar’s body and how it was making yours feel. There hadn’t been room for anything else in your mind.

So… what happened now? Did you just continue on as if nothing had happened? That thought made you grimace involuntarily.

“You OK,” Xigbar asked concernedly.

“ Oh, uh…” You tried to adjust your expression.  “ Just wondering what we should, um… do now.”

Xigbar closed his eye and crossed his arms. You tensed. It was like he was closing himself off from you. It was like a curtain was falling on one of the best scenes of your life. Was  _ this _ all he had really wanted from you? Had you read it all wrong – were you a fool to think that you could ever be something more to him? Anger and fear churned horribly in your stomach.

Xigbar opened his eye and grinned.  “ While I loved what we were doing before, maybe we should put a pin in it for now.” He winked.  “ We can continue later. Let’s go into that room Demyx came out of, which is undoubtedly his office. We were in luck.” Xigbar moved to walk down the hall but paused. “You know, my boss has this saying. ‘May your heart be your guiding key.’ I never totally believed it, but it seemed like it actually worked today.”

You smiled and followed him down the hall, giddy that he wanted to continue what had just happened between you two – and maybe more, from the sound of it. But your mind wasn’t as lost in a haze of lust as it had been before, and you couldn’t help but latch onto one phrase: ‘my boss.’ All this time you had assumed that Xigbar had his own motivations. So, who was he working for in reality? And why?

“ Alright. Just give me a minute. This lock’ll be a cinch to pick.” Xigbar’s mutterings brought you back to what was happening. “There! Got it.” He turned his head to grin at you. “Would you like to do the illegal honors,” he asked, gesturing to the doorknob.

‘I’ll have to put that thought to the side for now. Can’t get ‘sidetracked’ again. It wouldn’t be good to get caught dawdling in the office of an Org member, even if he seems silly,’ you thought to yourself. To Xigbar, you just said, “I think you just want my fingerprints on it and not yours.”

Xigbar laughed. “You’re learning!” He opened the door, expression turning serious. “Alright, let’s find out what exactly Demyx is up to with Vexen.”

The office was what you expected after everything people had been saying about Demyx and what you’d seen of his establishment so far. Various empty cans and bottles littered the room. Random instruments were scattered about, surrounded by crumpled papers. You picked one up; looked like they were random songs Demyx had tried but given up on. There wasn’t any sort of desk; just a worn-down sofa with a stack of pizza boxes next to it and a laptop half-open. Xigbar strolled over to it and started typing.

“Do you have some sort of fancy program like you were going to use at the DA’s,” you asked, perching on the armchair of the couch.

“ Nah, Demyx hasn’t changed his password to anything in all the years I’ve known him. See? I’m in.”

“What was it,” you asked.

“Demyxtime69,” Xigbar said with a laugh as you rolled your eyes. “I got this, babe. Can you see if there’s anything else in this pigsty that’ll help us?”

Your eyes went wide as Xigbar called you ‘babe.’ His nicknames for you had always caused your heart to beat faster, but after what had just happened in the hallway… well, it hit a bit different now. You nodded and turned away quickly, rushing to the other side of the room so he wouldn’t be able to see how much you were blushing and smiling.

You got to work sorting through stacks of wrinkled papers on a side table. Unpaid bills… old concert posters… more bills… brochures on some new ‘luxe but oh-so-affordable’ liquor brands for the bar… and more bills.

“Looks like he’s barely keeping the lights on,” you called over to Xigbar.

“Figures,” he responded. “I always wondered how Demyx managed to keep this place open in spite of himself.”

Then, something caught your eye. A folder from a well-known construction company in the city. Curious, you rifled through it. “But it seems like… yeah, he’s commissioned a firm to draw up plans for an expansion of this place.” You tossed the folder back into the pile and scratched your head. “But why would he do that if he’s not even able to pay the bills… was he planning on coming into some money sometime soon? Not that this helps us with Vexen at all, maybe I’m getting distracted…”

“No, actually I think you’re onto something. Come check this out.” You stood behind Xigbar as he pulled up various emails from Demyx’s account. “I knew we’d find something here. Demyx always needs everything to be written out for him crystal-clear if there’s to be any chance of him not _completely_ butchering his job. I used to send him along with notes on missions.”

“So what did you find?”

“It looks like Demyx hired himself out as a middleman between Vexen and a buyer for those bodies.”

“Woah. I guess that’s where his extra cash will come from. Do you know who?”

“Here it is: Door to Darkness Technologies.” Xigbar frowned. “ _ They’re  _ involved? What the fuck is going on,” he muttered.

You looked at him worriedly. “Do you know them? So, they have your box?”

Xigbar sighed and started closing everything he had opened on Demyx’s laptop. “No… no, there’s no way. This is getting more complicated than I thought. I didn’t expect this. I’m not 100% sure what this means.” He tossed the computer aside and stood up. “Let’s go back to your place. I’ll explain there. No need to hang around here.”

You followed Xigbar back out into the hallway and through to the main bar. As soon as you opened the door, the noise, smell, and sweat from the crowd assaulted you. It was even more crowded than before, and everyone was dancing in time to some new music. It had been difficult to even get the door open; you had been scared for a second that you’d be stuck in the hallway. You peered up at the stage through the surging crowd who were totally oblivious to you and Xigbar. You could see a band playing, but you didn’t think you saw Demyx among any of them.

“Be careful. Demyx must be in the crowd somewhere,” you yelled over the noise to Xigbar. He nodded, glancing around.

The two of you started to make your way towards the exit, but the mass of people made it difficult. You tried to gingerly push through the dancing bodies without causing a scene, but it was slow-moving. Suddenly, you realized that you had lost track of Xigbar. Shit, hadn’t he been right in front of you? Were you still headed the right way towards the exit?

The heat and noise from the surrounding crowd made it hard to think. You winced as elbows knocked into you. On your tiptoes, you tried to get a better view, but all the bodies seemed to ebb and flow like one continuous wave and you couldn’t get a clear view through the smokey air.

“Alright, no time for decorum now,” you muttered to yourself as you started to shove past people. Grunting and pushing, you made some headway through the crowd. Was that… yes! The exit! Finally!

“Hey! Watch it,” a reedy voice whined.

In your haste to escape, you had tried to shove aside Demyx without even realizing it!

“S-sorry,” you said, trying to keep your head down and move past. You felt a hand grip your arm.

“Wait, you were that girl in the hall, right? Where’s your ‘friend’ gone to, huh?” You tried to pry your arm away, but Demyx stepped in front of you. He gawked as he got a clear look at your face. “Shit! I didn’t realize that you’re…  _ you _ ! I need to have a word with you about something,” he yelled, pointing a finger at your face accusingly.

“ _ Me _ ,” you yelled back incredulously. How could he recognize you from anywhere but the hallway a few minutes ago? What the hell was going on? This wasn’t good. “Uh, gotta’ go,” you yelled, shoving him down with all your strength and barreling your way through the crowd.

“Augh! Hey, wait,” Demyx called after you, but you kept plowing your way to the exit as fast as you could. You threw open the door and ran into the cool night air.

“Babe! There you are! I was worried – what happened?” Xigbar had been looking around bewildered out on the sidewalk and looked relieved as you ran up to him.  
“No time,” you gasped, grabbing his hand and running towards the subway. “Demyx recognized me! We gotta’ move!”

“What? How could he possibly-”

“Don’tknowjustgo,” you yelled, taking the steps down to the subway two at a time. The last thing you needed now was for Demyx to see Xigbar with you. The two of you skidded onto the platform just as a train was arriving. You ran into it as soon as the doors opened and crashed onto an empty bench, chests heaving. As the doors closed with a chime, you looked around. “Car’s empty. I don’t think we were followed.”

“At least  _ something _ went right.” Xigbar stretched his legs. “Thank fuck I kissed you back there, or this night would’ve really been shit.”

* * *

Once you were back at your apartment, Xigbar started to explain the significance of Door to Darkness.

“The founding members of The Organization, including me, used to be advisors to this city’s leader.”

“You mean Ansem!?”

“Yeah, him. When we got rid of him and installed ourselves as leader, well, we didn’t get rid of him as permanently as most people think.”

“He’s still alive!? And content to just let this place be run into the ground!? Er, no offense… actually, some offense,” you said incredulously.

Xigbar just shrugged. “Anyways, we let the old man live. He promised not to make too much trouble for us if we set him up well. So he lives in the country and runs Door to Darkness Enterprises, designing computer programs, shit like that. He was always into that. Well, about a year ago, some of our founding members rediscovered their hearts and went soft. Said they didn’t like what The Organization had turned into, that old sob story. They defected and went back to join Ansem and last I heard they were all still working together out there. All of them are annoyingly well-connected and that makes them difficult to get rid of. We’ve always kept an eye on Door to Darkness, and they’ve never caused us any trouble before…”

“Until now, it seems,” you commented. The more you heard from Xigbar, the more you realized that you really didn’t know anything about this game you found yourself tangled up in. “But what would they want with Vexen’s clones? Could they use them for their software?”

Xigbar frowned. “The clones need to be programmed to perform their basic functions. But we’ve never been able to get them to do more than anything rudimentary. Maybe they’ve figured out a way to make them more advanced…”

You  furrowed your brows . “Maybe Door to Darkness wants to sell some enhanced models. I’m sure plenty of people would be willing to pay good money for something like that. And they were afraid that Xehanort would deny a business deal since there’s bad blood there.”

Xigbar shook his head. “They’d need a steady supply, though. And Vexen’s maneuverings have already attracted attention. No, I’m sure this is just a one-time thing. But for _what_? What’re they planning?”

“Well… you got what you could out of Demyx. Do you want to try Vexen now?”

“No, it’s not worth the risk at this point. I want to understand, but there’s no way Ansem and his friends have the box, so there’s no point pursuing this more if it’s ultimately only going to lead us to them.”

The two of you lapsed into silence. None of it really made any sense to you, and you figured you’d just wait until Xigbar had something else to say – but then you remembered something.

“Do you have any idea how Demyx recognized me?”

“I can’t figure that out either,” Xigbar groaned, holding his head in his hands. “ _Shit._ How have I hit so many dead-ends at once?”

Your heart hurt to see him so upset. You chewed on your lower lip, wondering what to say. How could you help make this better? You moved to stand behind Xigbar and started rubbing his shoulders. His body relaxed a little into your touch, but he was still holding his head in defeat.

“I’ll take a few more risks this week and really slow down the investigation into you. I don’t have anything concrete on Xehanort yet, but I can at least muck things up so you aren’t at risk anytime soon.”

Xigbar grunted and lifted his head. “Thanks. That’ll be great. I’ll get this box thing figured out. We really can’t bring anything against Xehanort without it.” He leaned his neck to one side as  you dug into a knot. “You’re sure that you won’t get caught? Don’t want you sticking that pretty neck of yours out too far for me,” he murmured.

You flushed, remembering his lips on your neck earlier that night. “I’m sure. You can find a way to repay me later.”

Xigbar chuckled and tilted his head back to look at you. “Darling, that is one payment I will happily make in advance. Get over here.”

Smiling, you walked around the arm of the couch. Xigbar pulled you onto his lap with a groan as his fingers pressed into the flesh of your ass. As your lips met, you closed your eyes and let out a moan of your own. His lips and tongue felt just as amazing against yours as before, and you ground down onto his stiffening cock.

Xigbar’s hips thrust up to meet yours eagerly. One of his hands fondled your breasts, the other pulled at your hair. You moaned as his erection and fingers pressed into the soft, sensitive parts of your body.

“Baby, I need you – right now,” he murmured huskily against your exposed neck as he pressed kisses to your skin.

You worked your hands under Xigbar’s shirt as his tongue lapped at your collarbone. You felt the taut muscles of his abs under your fingertips and the sharp jut of his hips. You leaned forward and licked the shell of Xigbar’s ear as your pressed down more against his cock, which was rockhard in his jeans.

“Please tell me I’ve earned my way into that bedroom of yours. I want to lay you down on that bed and fuck you until you can’t stop cumming-”

“Yes, please,” you moaned.

You got off him, and the two of you kissed and groped your way towards the bedroom door. He pressed you against it and kissed you as his hands worked their way to your underwear. You gasped as you felt his fingers ghosting over your clit. You whimpered and tried to press yourself into his fingers more, but he kept letting up each time.

Xigbar pulled away and chuckled. “You’re already so needy, just from this? Oh, sweetheart, I am going to have made such an utter mess of you by the end of tonight-”

Suddenly, the peal of a cellphone cut through Xigbar’s filthy words. Concerned, you looked questioningly at Xigbar, whose fingers hadn’t slowed.

“It’s fine, leave it,” he growled, opening the door. He pushed you back into the room, and your back hit the softness of your bed. Xigbar climbed on top of you and immediately started ripping off your clothes. “You – are so – fucking – perfect,” he moaned between kissing each new inch of exposed skin. You couldn’t get enough of the feel of his hands all across your body, awakening a new level of desire with each touch to your skin. How he made you feel was addictive, it was better than any feeling you’d known before.

You moaned his name as his mouth encircled one of your nipples and started to suck. He flicked his tongue up and down, swirled it around the bud in his mouth, and each swipe of his hot tongue against your skin made your core throb. “Just – just like that – oh, my – _yes_ ,” you panted incoherently. “Xigbar, please – I want to touch you, too!”

Xigbar hummed appreciatively against your skin and started to lick and bite his way down your stomach. “We have all night, doll. I’ve been dreaming about doing this to you, and I can’t wait any longer-”

The shrill beeping of that phone from before started up again, slicing through the intimacy between you and Xigbar. You jumped, shocked, and Xigbar rolled off from on top of you.

“Damn it, damn it,  _ damn it _ ,” he  roared , storming out into the living room. You saw him fish the offending phone out of a pocket of his coat. “Fuck off. Whatever it is, I’m busy,” he snapped. There was a pause. “Oh, Master. It’s you.”

Confused and upset, you got up from the bed. Your skin was still wet from Xigbar’s kisses and your heart was still pounding with excitement – but you felt a hollowness in your stomach. You hugged yourself and slowly walked out into the living room to watch Xigbar. Who was this ‘Master?’ What was going to happen now?

“Yes, I know, but I’m in the middle of something,” he continued, glancing over at you. He flinched; you wondered if it was from the hurt on your face or if the ‘Master’ was saying something to him. “Alright. I’ll leave right away.” He hung up and started to put on his coat.

You turned away, trying not to let tears spill from your eyes. “Seems like you will have to wait a bit longer  after all ,” you said coldly, not turning to look at him.  You knew what kind of stuff Xigbar was involved with  and that this kind of thing was probably normal for him. But despite that, you were still hurt and angry.

“Babe… I’m s o s orry. This is not how I wanted this night to go, believe me.”

You tried to steel your expression as you turned to face him; you didn’t want him to see how devastated you were. You softened, though, as you turned and saw the real regret on his  scarred  face. You muttered something about it being OK and that you understood. 

Xigbar frowned as he pulled you towards him. “Hey. You’ve always been honest with me, and that’s one of the things I l- really like about you. So don’t start lying now. It’s not OK and I’m sure you don’t understand… but I’ll make sure you understand, soon. It’ll make sense.”

You relented, nodding. Your pride was still wounded and you were probably  not  going to be able to sleep  a wink tonight due to all the sexual frustration – but more than all that, you were worried about him, so you couldn’t bear for him to leave thinking you were angry with him. Xigbar leaned forward and captured your lips in a kiss, more gentle than the fiery ones from just a few minutes before. You melted into it, trying to memorize the feel of his lips against yours. You pulled away slowly after a minute. “Where are you going? When will I see you again?”

“I’m not sure, I’ll find out soon. And the second I’m able, I’ll come to see you.”  His voice became hungrier. “We were just getting warmed up here, sweetheart. I promise I’m going to come back and finish what you started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean to go this long without posting! I'm about halfway through the next chapter, so hopefully there won't be such a long lag. I hope you're enjoying so far!


	6. The Night Together & The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something lost has been found.
> 
> Xigbar and you finally share a night together. 
> 
> But the morning brings cruel truths and realizations. How will you move forward?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS AHEAD if you are not caught up on the series and have not seen all of Xigbar's scenes from KH3!!
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: reference to violence, abuse
> 
> Apologies for any random spacing typos you see. I can't figure out how to fix those when I paste the story into AO3.
> 
> Some original universe-AU continuity notes:  
> \- I think Scala ad Caelum is technically built over the ruins of Daybreak Town, but I have made them separate parts of one area.
> 
> \- In this AU, Terra was not the person who gave Xigbar his facial scars. Terra was also not there when Xehanort killed Eraqus. Since this universe exists in a linear timeline and we don't have people leapfrogging between worlds and centuries, there's a bit of a constraint on interactions between older and younger characters.
> 
> \- It felt a bit weird referring to a Chi-blade in the context of this universe, so its equivalent in this will be "the final key".

“Hey, the boss wants to see you,” Aqua said worriedly, coming over to your desk. “He seems upset. Everything OK?”

You just smiled. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll be in there in just a sec.”

Aqua nodded slowly, obviously unconvinced, but she left to go to her next meeting with Terra. You sighed and rolled your neck. You had been true to your word last time you had seen Xigbar and had been working at slowing down the investigation into him.

Evidence wasn’t getting filed. Transcripts weren’t being reviewed. Some stuff was even going missing. It was exhausting you, doing all this stuff wrong, but you were starting to get used to the angry meetings with your manager. There was no way they’d want to go through the hassle of hiring someone new in the middle of this huge investigation, so you felt pretty safe in your position despite everything that you were doing.

And why were you doing all this? Putting your (albeit shitty) job on the line, risking pissing off a group of extremely dangerous people? For Xigbar. This had gone beyond just you wanting to lock away Xehanort to secure a better future for yourself. Now, you actively wanted to help Xigbar; you couldn’t bear to see something bad happen to him.

When you would think of him, your heart would beat faster. How his semi-permanent smirk would become a little more like a smile at the sight of you. Those lips on yours. His hands roaming up and down your body – claiming it, letting it drive him wild.

You felt the lust in your belly dissolve into disappointment as you remembered how abruptly those moments of passion had come to an end. Because of the Organization and whoever this mysterious ‘Master’ was.

You figured you had stalled long enough; it was time to face the music, yet again. You steeled yourself for the conversation with your manager and headed to the small conference room Aqua had pointed towards. To your surprise, when you opened the door, it wasn’t your mid-level manager sitting there – it was Luxord himself.

‘Oh, shit,’ you thought. ‘When Aqua had said the boss, she meant The boss.’

“Sit down, love. I think we need to have a chat,” the Gambler of Fate said smoothly, gesturing to the chair across the table from him.

You tried to keep a calm face as you took a seat. Luxord just stared at you, so you nodded curtly as a sign for him to continue, not trusting yourself to speak. You willed yourself to sit still and not to fidget.

“Picture this: a black goat stashes away a letter and a white goat has to look for it. What could possibly be going on?”

You just blinked. What the hell. Was this a joke? Was it a test?? “Why, uh… why are we discussing, um, goats, sir,” you asked, your voice trailing off at the end in confusion.

Luxord chuckled through one of his charming smiles. “None of us is actually in charge. We’re all just _scapegoats_ in one way or another.” His golden eyes narrowed. “Even this Xigbar we’re so dedicated to bringing to justice.”

You were so nervous that you had to focus on Luxord’s words through a slight ringing in your ears. “Oh? Is there someone else you’d like me to be focusing on, too?”

Luxord sighed annoyedly and waved his hand. “I do enjoy that we have to act coy in this business, but it’s ever so grating when you have to talk to someone who is just so objectively bad at it.” He locked eyes with you and leaned forward. “What is he planning? I don’t like folks trying to cheat the house at my casinos, but that rule doesn’t apply to myself. None of us are what we seem, and I can’t hold all the cards unless I know exactly what he’s up to. And you’ll get something out of it: protection. From what’s coming.” Luxord sat back with a self-satisfied smirk. “So tell me.”

You tried to remain composed. How did he know – what exactly did he know? What was he after? Should you lie? Try to make something up? Lead him on a wrong path? You had been wishing that you had heard from Xigbar more this week, but now you were glad you hadn’t – that way, you couldn’t let anything slip about what he was doing even accidentally.

As these thoughts and a million others raced through your head, you sat in stunned silence. Luxord growled in frustration. “This was a waste of time. I can see it on your face: you don’t understand a thing.” His voice regained its velvet quality. “Fine, then. Just let Xigbar know it’s not too late to talk to me. He’ll get in contact if he knows what’s good for him.” Luxord dismissed you with a wave of his hand.

You left the room with your heart beating a million miles an hour in your chest. You had worried Luxord had noticed what you had been doing to slow the investigation and was going to interrogate you – but it had been even worse than that. What had Xigbar said about these kinds of blatant attempts at intimidation? They were born out of desperation? Well, maybe Xigbar could laugh that off but it didn’t make you feel any better necessarily – a wild animal was most dangerous when it was backed into a corner. You were sure that it was the same for people.

You grimaced. What the hell was going on? Where was Xigbar? Hurrying outside, you looked at the last messages you had received from him.

Monday, 4:02 AM _Ill be out in scala ad caelum this week_

Monday, 4:02 AM _Its out past daybreak town_

Monday, 4:11 AM _Thats where I grew up, used to be nice, its a shithole now. Sac is the nice_ _area_ _where all the rich folks live_

Monday, 4:21 AM _Dont forget me while Im gone OK_

And that had been it. You’d looked up both places to see if any generally available information could give you any hints as to what he was up to.

From what you had read, Scala ad Caelum was a beach resort enclave for the ultra wealthy; no public train line ran there, making it difficult for the public to access. And Daybreak Town seemed like it had been a cute, thriving tourist town a few decades back but it had since fallen on hard times. You couldn’t discern exactly what had happened to bring on the decline. Its main feature seemed to be a large clock tower that still drew some visitors who were willing to make the trip. Only one train ran there and back, so it wasn’t convenient. It seemed like both places were in their own worlds, separate from the rest of the interconnected region.

Pacing the sidewalk outside, you thought about what to do. Should you try and call him? But his phone had been off all week. Should you try getting to Scala ad Caelum? But you had no idea how you’d get there or how you’d find Xigbar even if you did manage to find a way there.

You tried his phone again – no answer. You pulled up the app for the cheapest car rental company you knew of. Even that proved outrageous for a last-minute booking.

“Hey! You OK?” Kairi’s kind voice cut through the din of the street.

You looked up, surprised. When had she gotten there? Then you tried to put a smile on your face; it was obvious she saw your distress even from far away. “Hey! Yeah, just, um…” No platitudes managed to make it past your lips, and you just stood there awkwardly. You were too stressed to come up with anything. Kairi just stood there, patiently waiting for you to continue. “How do you deal with it when Sora and Riku go off on some crazy-ass mission and don’t tell you anything about it,” you finally asked.

Kairi smiled and nodded knowingly. “I find that it helps to be the one to take action once I’ve planned what to do. It can feel like you’re not doing anything, but it can be better than injecting more uncertainty into a situation.” She paused thoughtfully. “Aqua is much more action-oriented than me, but I’m sure she’d also tell you that being prepared is extra important if the men you’re going after are foolhardy.”

You laughed. “Luckily it’s just one man in my case.” You blushed, realizing you might have said too much. “Well, thanks for the advice, Kairi. What’s brought you over here?”

She filled you in on her latest cases as you walked back into the office. She parted ways to go meet with Ven, and you sat back down at your desk. You felt a bit better after talking with her. Since you had no idea what else to do, you’d take her advice: you wouldn’t do anything rashly. You’d focus on what you had to do at the office, and then you’d go home to plan how to get in touch with Xigbar.

* * *

After work that day, as you walked up to your apartment door with keys in hand, you tiredly wiped your shoes on the floormat outside your door.

And then you froze.

Because you kept your floormat inside the doorway, because you didn’t trust your package-stealing neighbors not to take even this grubby bit of scrap material.

What the hell was going on? Was someone inside your home? Should you call the police? ‘Hello, police, a floor covering has been moved.’ No, they wouldn’t come over for that. You were on your own.

Exhaling slowly, you unlocked the door as quietly as possible. Then, you positioned your key between your fingers and made a fist. That was what you were supposed to do, right? You bit your lower lip. Should you try to sneak in? Or kick the door open and scream, creating a distraction?

Suddenly, the door opened a little by itself, and you jumped back in surprise.

“Baby, there you are. I was hoping the mat would tip you off I was here, but I can see I just spooked you. Hurry up and get in here already.”

“ _Xigbar_ ,” you hissed incredulously, shoving the door open to reveal the man himself. “What-why- this is the 21  st  goddamn century! You could’ve just texted me. How’d you get in, what’re you doing here,” you fumed, stomping in and throwing your stuff down.

Xigbar grinned. “I was expecting a sweeter welcome back, babe. But, to answer your many questions: your lock is crap and I’ve been dragging my ass and more through the woods for a few days, I didn’t feel like trekking the extra way to my place. And come on, like someone who meant you harm would – literally – put out the welcome mat for you? Besides, it’s hard to send a message when your phone’s been smashed to smithereens. It’s been a busy week, darling.”

You only just then turned and took in the full sight of him. His clothes were ripped and torn in a few places, and his face and hands were covered with dirt and scratches. It looked like there were twigs and leaves in his ponytail. His boots by the door were caked in something foul.

“I’ll assume this wasn’t from a camping trip gone awry. What happened,” you asked, looking him over again.

Xigbar laughed. “Eh, something like that. I don’t want to bore you with all the annoying details. Suffice it to say that I got what we’ve been looking for.” Grinning, he pointed to the corner of your living room just past the TV.

There it was. The box. Sitting there. In your apartment!

You gasped. “So it was in Scala ad Caelum? How’d you-”

“I’m touched that you’re so interested, sweetheart,” Xigbar interrupted. “But what I’ve really been dying to ask you is can you show me how to work your shower? I’m pretty grimy and I really just want to clean up.” He scowled and picked a few leaves out of his hair. “Then we can talk after?”

You couldn’t help laughing. “Sure, it’s a bit finicky. Come on, I’ll show you.”

* * *

As Xigbar showered, you studied the box. The blood-red markings on it looked so sinister, so evil. You shivered involuntarily and took a step away from it. It honestly looked like it belonged in medieval times rather than the modern day.

What was in it that was so dangerous? Why had you spent weeks looking for it? Would Xigbar finally answer your questions?

You heard the bathroom door open and you turned to start demanding answers. “So, Xigba-aarrr...” but the rest of the words died in your mouth. He was leaning against the doorframe with only a smirk on his face and one of your towels wrapped dangerously low on his hips. His long hair was out of its ponytail and spread beautifully across his shoulders. He could seem tall and lanky in that trench coat of his, but now you saw how lithe and toned his body was. His arms weren’t bulky, but the muscles were evident. His abs were incredible, and you happily watched a droplet of water trail down from his pecs, across the plane of his abs, and disappear into the tuft of black hair that led from his bellybutton downwards.

He sauntered over to you. “Yeah, baby? Is there something you wanted to ask me?”

You gulped. “Yeah, uh – about the, uh, box,” you stammered as he got closer.

He chuckled. “We can talk about all that later. For now, how about we pick up where we left off,” he said huskily, pulling you to him.

Any intellectual curiosity you had immediately left your brain the second your hands came into contact with his muscled torso and was replaced only by a primal instinct to acquaint your lips with every part of Xigbar’s anatomy. Your mind went blank as your hands started to wander over his pecs and shoulders down to his abs; you could plainly feel how firm and strong his body was. And the different textures of his skin as smoothness was interrupted by rough scar after scar. But you weren’t disgusted – you were fascinated.

“I take it you like what you see,” Xigbar purred. His eyelid was half-lowered, like he was calmed by the feeling of your hands all over him. But you saw the tent in the towel around his waist, so he was obviously also excited.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and drew him in for a deep kiss. “I want to kiss you all over,” you murmured, fingering the knot in the towel.

With an evil grin, Xigbar pulled away. “Ah-ah-ah. I said we’d continue where we left off. And if I remember correctly, I was kissing my way down _your_ body.” You rolled your eyes and tried to tell him to stop being stupid and to let you kiss him, when you were suddenly thrown over his shoulder. “Gorgeous, I think you’ve forgotten that I’m still a very dangerous man.” He threw you onto your bed, and he licked his lips. “I’ve been dying to taste you for what feels like an eternity now, and you’re not going to make me wait any longer.”

As Xigbar ripped your clothes off, you happily contented yourself with kissing every bit of skin you could: his neck, collarbone, ears. You were emboldened as Xigbar moaned in response to each press of your lips to his skin.

Once he had all of your clothes off, he pressed you onto your back and spread your legs fully. You held your breath in anticipation as he lowered his head to your opening, which was already wet. You shivered as his tongue started to lick softly, teasingly along the outside of your swollen lips.

“Xigbar, more,” you pleaded. You needed his tongue deep inside you, exploring you.

“That’s right, babe: beg for it. Tell me what you want,” Xigbar said deviously. He curled his tongue upwards, and it flicked against the underside of your swollen clit.

It sent a jolt up your spine and you gasped. He chuckled evilly and did it again – just the tip of his tongue swiping against the bud, torturing it. But just that was sending out waves of pleasure, and you felt that telltale coil in your stomach already.

“You like that? You want more? All you have to do is ask,” Xigbar murmured as he teased you with his devilish tongue.

“Please! Please lick me, I need it so bad – _aah_!”

Your head snapped back onto the bed as Xigbar closed his mouth over your clit. Your hips twitched and bucked as he circled his tongue around, toying with the nub in his mouth. Then, he wagged his tongue up and down, getting under your hood, and you cried out as it sent the most delicious feeling throbbing through your pussy. Xigbar flattened his tongue, and you greedily bucked your hips against his wet, soft expanse, pleasuring yourself.

He pulled away with a grin and moved downwards to your lips again. This time he pressed his tongue inside you, licking along the inside of your walls. You heard him groan in pleasure as his tongue tasted how wet and ready you were for him.

He brought his fingers to your clit and started rubbing in circles as he buried his tongue inside. You gasped, seeing stars as your pussy was stimulated from multiple points. His tongue pressed into you sensually, and his fingers were quick and insistent – it was so intense and it all felt so incredible. You weren’t sure if the dripping you felt down your ass was Xigbar’s saliva or your own arousal, but the sensation only added to your ecstasy. As Xigbar’s fingers quickened and his tongue swirled inside you even deeper, the coil in your gut tightened.

“Xigbar,” you gasped. “I’m gonna’ – you’re gonna’ make me-”

“That’s right, baby,” he moaned, taking a quick break as his fingers kept up their pace. “Say my name, cum all over my tongue. That’s it.” He buried his tongue back in your pussy, his golden eye staring up hungrily at you.

“Xigbar! Oh, fuck – oh, my – Xigbar, yes,” you screamed as your orgasm hit you. Your back arched and your hips snapped up. It was incredible – you felt your walls pulse around Xigbar’s tongue and you shook with the force of it all. And it was made even more incredible by Xigbar’s moan of approval vibrating through your core. He kissed and licked your stomach and hips as you gradually came down from the high.

As you stopped seeing stars, you were more clearly able to focus on the figure of Xigbar between your legs. His mouth was still occupied with you, but he had long since discarded the towel and had one hand pumping between his legs. Even though you had just cum, you were overwhelmed by a feeling of lust at the sight of Xigbar pleasuring himself.

“Why don’t you let me do that,” you murmured.

Xigbar sat up and grinned. He wiped his very wet chin with his forearm. “So eager… you’ve wanted this as long as I have, huh, darling,” he mused, rocking back on his heels.

You blushed and started to move towards him. “Maybe longer, technically? I always did think you were really handsome in the pictures of you I saw at work,” you admitted sheepishly.

This increased the animalistic look in Xigbar’s eye. “Yeah? Did you get all nice and wet for me at the office? Fuck, if I would’ve known that, I would’ve stormed in there and fucked you senseless over that fucking desk of yours,” he growled, pulling you to him for a feral kiss. You tasted yourself on his tongue as he ravaged your mouth. He brought one of your hands down and wrapped it around the base of his cock. You gasped at how thick and hot it was in your hand. “You were begging for that just a moment ago,” he murmured huskily. “Show me what you can do.”

Tingling with excitement, you started to pump your hand. You smiled widely as Xigbar let out a pleasured moan. You moved onto your stomach and eyed the thick cock in your hand. Not just thick – it was long, too. You stroked his heavy cock slowly, watching how his foreskin moved up and down his huge head. Beads of precum formed and dripped down with every stroke. His cock was hard and hot under your touch, but his skin was silky soft as your hand glided up and down his shaft.

You had never seen a cock so huge. And in a breathy moan, you told Xigbar exactly that as you wrapped your lips around his dick, determined to suck him dry.

Xigbar practically let out a full throated whoop as he steadied himself by wrapping his fingers in your hair as you bobbed your head up and down. “Holy fuck – oh, shit – just like that, _yes._ Hungry for my cock, baby?”

You moaned as his fingers dug into you, forcing you to move a bit faster. You worked your tongue against his shaft and sucked while using your hand to work the base of his cock. He was so huge that you were gagging on his head even before you were able to fully take him in your mouth. Your jaw ached and your neck strained, but you loved how his wet, throbbing cock filled your mouth and his musky scent filled your nostrils. You felt saliva start to pool at the edges of your lips, but you kept going.

“Nngh, I could cum in your mouth right now. You’re just so damn good,” Xigbar gasped, pulling your head away from him. “But I want to cum in your pussy. Lie back for me, darling, let me fuck you.”

You happily did as you were told. Xigbar quickly settled himself between your legs and spread them as wide as they would go. You marveled at the man who draped himself over you: his broad, muscular shoulders, washboard abs, strong thighs. Xigbar had always looked slim and firm in his clothes, but you were enthralled with the raw sexiness of his body and the toned muscles that comprised it. You could only imagine the countless hours of work that went into his practical physique.

For his part, Xigbar was looking down at you with an equal expression of wonder. He took his cock in hand and started to tease your entrance. “Ready for me, baby? Once I’m in you, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back,” he said huskily.

You grinned cheekily. “You’ve kept your promises to me so far. Don’t start making ones you can’t back up.”

Xigbar scoffed. “You little brat. I’m going to teach you a lesson,” he grunted.

You gasped as his wet, smooth head glided past your lips and into the start of your opening. Then the most incredible sensation ripped through you as Xigbar rammed his hips forward, fully sheathing himself in you in one thrust. He grabbed under your ass and lifted so you were resting a little on his thighs as he pistoned his hips forward and back. Groaning from pleasure, your hands scrabbled at wrinkled, sweat-soaked bedsheets to try and steady yourself as Xigbar’s thrusts pounded your hole mercilessly and shook the whole bedframe.

“So tight, so wet, baby,” Xigbar moaned as he jackhammered his hips into you. He used his arms to push and pull your body as well, so the feeling as he bottomed out inside you each time was unspeakably intense. His girth was stretching you, and his head was pounding and stimulating a place so incredibly deep inside you. Each thrust had you moaning nonsense, begging for more in some lust-filled language. “Fuck, I can’t hold it back, baby. I’m gonna’ cum soon.” Xigbar set your hips down on the bed but didn’t slow his pace as he leaned towards your face.

“Yes, yes, oh! Cum in me, please,” you begged through your moans. His thrusts were more sporadic, but he was deep inside you, his balls pounding your ass with heavy, wet slaps.

Xigbar brought his mouth down to yours for a deep, groan-filled kiss. Your tongue tangled with his. Then, you heard Xigbar let out one higher-pitched moan and felt his hips jutter. His dick pulsed inside you, and you felt his flood of a release fill you.

Xigbar broke the kiss to catch his breath, dropping his head to rest on your shoulder. His salt-and-pepper hair was damp with sweat and fanned out over your collarbone. Your own chest was heaving, and your heart was pounding.

“Xigbar… that was amazing,” you said breathlessly.

He chuckled. “You haven’t seen anything yet, sweetheart.” His breath tickled your ear and sent pleasant shivers down your spine. He propped himself up on his elbow and pressed kisses along your cheek. “I have so much else in store for you tonight.” You whimpered as he pulled his cock out of you and rolled onto his side. “Just give me a few minutes.”

You lay there as the throb inside you ebbed. You had never felt this good before – this simultaneously satisfied and lustful. You rolled onto your side and peppered Xigbar with small kisses. He was sweaty and his gorgeous hair was mussed all over your pillows, but somehow his eyepatch was still perfectly intact. You placed a few kisses along the edge of the black fabric.

Xigbar grunted and gathered you into his strong arms. “Hey. Hold still. I said to give me a minute, didn’t I? When you do cute stuff like that, I want to fuck you even more,” he murmured, nuzzling the top of your head.

Was he just trying to get you to stay away from his eye, or…? Then, you let out a light laugh. You had thought it was an excuse at first, because it sounded ridiculous to your ears, but Xigbar’s cock poking into you again seemed to be validating his claim. You stopped kissing him and just laid there, listening to the ebb and flow of his breath and feeling his warm skin against your own. His legs tangled with yours and made you feel encased by him. It felt so natural, so comfortable.

Eventually, you felt Xigbar’s hands start to roam your body again: cupping your breasts, traveling down your stomach and over your hips, squeezing your ass. Grinning, you turned your face towards him, and he quickly seized your mouth in a kiss as he continued to run his hands all over your body.

“Mmm, so are you saying you’re ready for round two,” you murmured after Xigbar slowly broke the deep kiss.

Xigbar licked the shell of your ear. He bit your lobe and sucked on it, drawing a moan out of you. His fingertips moved to your clit and started rubbing in soft circles. The warmth in your belly instantly blossomed into a raging fire. You squirmed and bucked your hips as Xigbar teased you with his fingers and sucked at your neck, but his arms and legs had locked around your body – there was no way you could escape his ministrations. Not that you wanted to escape, but you wanted to touch him so badly!

“Xigbar, plee-ease, more,” you whined.

He chuckled and brought the full force of his fingers to your clit. You moaned as the pressure increased and sent jolts of delight through your body. After a minute, he moved his fingers downward and ran them between your folds.

“I can feel my cum dripping out of your tight pussy,” he whispered devilishly in your ear. “And you’re still begging for more? You’re so naughty, sweetheart. Who ever would’ve guessed?” He sucked at your ear again. “I think you need to be taught a lesson.” He quickly flipped you over and pulled your hips up so your ass was on display for him. He trailed his fingers lightly up and down your back. “So willing. So happy to do whatever I command. And my cum’s already dripping down your thighs.”

You bit your lip at his words. You had heard him devise, tease, cajole – you had known how talented he was with his words. But _this_ was on a whole other level. His dark tone, the filthy way he’d describe the most intimate parts of you, how he loved to hear you beg: all of it drove you wild. It was clear from the start that Xigbar was a dominant personality, and so far you were loving that it was true in the bedroom as well. You shivered as his fingertips moved from caressing your back down to your ass.

Xigbar’s strong hands gripped your cheeks and pushed them up, exposing your wet entrance to the cool air, sending a chill up your spine. He let them fall, and you felt the bounce of your own flesh. You heard him start to breathe more heavily as he continued playing with your ass, obviously enjoying using your body as his toy. You kept your ass in the air but shifted your hips impatiently; you wanted his hands back on your clit, his fingers deep inside you.

Xigbar rewarded your impertinence with a slap to the ass. Shocked, you were unable to hold back the gasp of excitement that escaped your throat.

“Babygirl, _this_ was supposed to be punishment,” he said, punctuating his point with another slap to your ass. “You’re not _enjoying_ this, are you,” he taunted.

Your full throated moans were answer enough as he continued to spank you. Each sting of his open palm against your skin made your core pulse with an ever deeper need for him. Xigbar’s other hand rubbed circles on your low back as he slapped your ass. You somehow felt so safe and so at ease – and simultaneously so unbelievably horny – in such a humiliating position. As you continued to moan, something wet on the bedsheets made contact with your cheek. It took you a moment to realize through your haze of ecstasy that it was coming from you; Xigbar had you so undone that you were literally drooling.

Xigbar paused for a moment to take in your blissed-out face and quivering legs. Grinning wildly, quite proud of his handiwork so far, he pressed his fingers against your glistening opening, curling them so he covered your clit, too, and roughly started to rub. It was ass if electric currents or vibrations were spreading through the lower half of your body; the feeling was absolutely intoxicating. It was as if he knew exactly what your body craved. You lifted your hips even higher into his sinful hand.

“That’s right, princess, cum for me! I told you I was going to make a mess of you, and look: mouth drooling, pussy dripping. You hear this, darling? Listen to this.” He started pumping three digits in and out of you. Over your whimpers of delight, you could hear the sopping wet sounds your folds made as they greedily took Xigbar’s fingers over and over again. Xigbar laughed triumphantly, and it sent another thrill up your spine. “C’mon, baby. I know there’s even more in that juicy pussy of yours.” He slightly curled his fingers inside you and quickened his pace.

Groaning, you felt the coil in the pit of your stomach tighten. So close, you were so close –

Then, he pulled them out of you. Glaring, you propped yourself up on your hands and looked behind you. He was stroking his cock and lining it up at your entrance. “Make yourself cum on my cock, sweetheart,” he rumbled, gently pulling your hips backwards.

Taking the hint, you let him place his tip inside – and then you controlled the pace as you impaled yourself on Xigbar’s shaft on your hands and knees. You were so wet that you could easily keep up a quick pace, and you started to feel the crescendo again.

“That’s right, baby – like that. Get yourself off – oh, you are too fucking perfect,” Xigbar said breathily. His head was titled to one side so he could see the whole show: not just your wet pussy swallowing his dick and your ass shaking but also your breasts bouncing and your face in utter ecstasy. He bit his lip and grabbed your hips. “I can’t hold back. Baby, can I-”

“Fuck me, Xigbar – take me, just make me cum again,” you pleaded, stilling your hips with him fully inside you.

With a desperate groan, Xigbar started pistoning his hips and slamming your body against his. “Whatever you want, princess, it’s yours,” he gasped, ramming into you.

That put you over the edge, and your orgasm washed over you in a wave of pure pleasure. You shouted Xigbar’s name in joy and he reciprocated, moaning your name as his cock released his load deep inside of you.

After both of your bodies stopped shaking with the force of your orgasms, Xigbar slowly and carefully pulled out of you. Panting, you both collapsed next to each other on the bed. As you caught your breath, you watched Xigbar as he lay on his stomach, a proud grin on his face. He looked a bit tired. This was your chance. You were finally going to kiss that man all over.

“Wh-what’re you doing,” Xigbar asked, laughing as you started kissing all over his back.

“I’ve been thinking that I wanted to know your entire body. Know each of your scars and their stories. You’ve kept me a bit preoccupied so far, but I think you need to regain your stamina, so I’m striking while you’re down,” you answered, smiling. You gently brushed away his smooth hair and started pressing your lips to the constellation of marks along his shoulders.

Xigbar snorted. “You don’t have to do that. Wouldn’t you just rather focus on the parts of me that haven’t gone to shit? Although that is fairly rare real estate nowadays.”

“I like _every_ part of you,” you murmured, gliding your mouth across his sweat-soaked skin. The rough edges of the marks caught on your lips, but you didn’t mind at all. “Will you tell me about these,” you asked softly.

Xigbar held his breath. You could feel the tension in his muscles. And then, slowly, through an ever so slight waver in his voice, he started to talk. “Those… those ones on my back are old. Got those long before I ever got involved in any of this. I was still practically a kid.”

You furrowed your brows. That hadn’t been what you’d expected. What did that mean? You studied the brown-grey, raised skin that criss-crossed his back and shoulders, still angry after all these years, never having truly healed. Who on earth would do something like that to a child? And why? You opened your mouth to start asking those very questions, but Xigbar was turning over onto his back already, hiding them from your view.

At your concerned look, he leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. “Don’t worry about these, babe, I don’t even think about them anymore.” He held your face and pressed more earnest kisses to your parted lips. “I loved what you were doing. Keep going. I’ll tell you the stories of all of these,” he said with a grin, gesturing downwards.

Cautiously, you did as he said. There was a raw look of pleading on his face that you had never seen before. And you thought it was begging you to continue your kisses and not ask anymore about what you had just seen. For the time being, you’d try to put it out of your mind; if Xigbar didn’t want to talk about it right now, you wouldn’t push it. You’d find out when he was ready. For right now, you’d focus on making him feel good.

And as your lips anointed his skin, Xigbar relaxed into your touch. He let you explore him. He told you stories of harrowing escapes, dumb mistakes, interrogations survived, and all sorts of fights. At some points he had you laughing so hard you couldn’t stop – at other points, a tear slid down your cheek as you murmured sweet nothings through your kisses, desperately trying to show him how much you cared.

Finally, you moved up and kissed the scar on Xigbar’s chin. There was a tender look on his sharp features that you had never seen before. You slowly moved your fingers to the string of his eyepatch, but he recoiled as his face took on a more guarded look again.

“No, babe. You don’t want to kiss that scar.” He brought your hands to his lips and kissed them. “But I’ll tell you what happened, OK?” He sat up and pulled you onto his lap. His back was against the headboard and he rubbed his hands up and down your thighs as you straddled him. “It was back when I first had to join the Organization. I had to gain Xehanort’s trust. The old coot used me as live bait.” Xigbar chuckled darkly at your horrified gasp. “Yeah, it was pretty ingenious of the old bastard. I realized pretty quick, though, that I was gonna’ end up with some scars, so it wasn’t too bad. If you know something’s coming, it’s easier to accept. I had to act angry afterwards, though. That really sold it. He’s totally trusted me since then.”

You shook your head in awe. “That is… I don’t know if I could ever be that brave. Knowing you might have to sacrifice yourself… why-”

Xigbar cut you off with a kiss. “Don’t worry about the ‘why’ for now, sweet pea.” He snorted. “And it wasn’t brave. I was just following orders. Nothing brave about that.” He tilted his head back and smirked at you. “No, _you’re_ the brave one. The way you stood up to me the first time we met…” He looked you up and down hungrily. “I was impressed.”

You blushed as you felt his dick start to stiffen against your leg. You were conflicted; you wanted to talk more about Xigbar and the horrible treatment that others had put him through, but it was obvious he wanted to move things in a different direction. What he had been doing before to you was incredible, but you decided you’d take it in a different direction, too. More tender than the last two times.

You started to stroke him languidly. “So, you’re saying I should stand up to you more often,” you quipped with a wink.

Xigbar started sucking at the spot where your neck met your shoulder. You started to pump him faster, biting your lip. He growled and licked up your neck. You felt him get even bigger in your hand.

He brought one of your breasts up to your mouth. “You are such a brat. Whatever am I going to do with you,” he growled, sucking one of your nipples into his mouth and toying at it with his tongue.

Moaning, it took all of your willpower to pull away. You were determined to set the pace for this round. Xigbar watched you with an eyebrow raised as you readjusted yourself. He groaned happily as you held his cock and inserted it inside you. As his cock stretched your walls again, you slowly started to move your body. He reached for your hips once more, but you stopped him.

“You want to know what to do with me? Just let me take care of you, Xigbar,” you murmured. You brought his hands back up to your breasts as your hips set the pace, savoring every inch of his dick slowly as you rode him.

Xigbar clenched his jaw. It looked like it was harder on him to hold back than to fuck you raw with all his strength. He swore as he fondled your breasts and watched you glide up and down. “Fuck, baby, I’ve never – oh, _yes_ – not like this before.” His golden eye was wide as he drank in the sight of you taking his cock. “Mmmnh, I can feel every bit of you when you go slow like this. Fuck, it’s like you were made for me. You feel so good,” he moaned.

You braced yourself against his shoulders and started to go a bit faster, your ass bouncing and slapping against his thighs. His huge cock hit a deeper spot inside you that made you see stars.

“Hell yes, baby – ride me, _yes_ ,” he encouraged, his golden eye sparkling.

“I- I want to cum with you, Xigbar,” you moaned. The angle was such that each movement sent a jolt of pleasure straight up through your spine, which then spread through your whole body. You weren’t even stimulating your clit, but you could feel yourself getting closer to the edge. You loved the feeling of his body sliding against yours. His arms were wrapped around you, and you were mesmerized by his taut muscles moving in sync with you and his handsome faced wracked with pleasure.

Xigbar captured your lips with his as he started to move his hips in sync with you more powerfully. “Yes, babygirl. Together,” he gasped against your lips.

Your breaths mingled together, hot and heavy, as you both found ecstasy in each other. Your names, invoked from the other’s lips, filled the air as you both reached your climax at the same time. Finally, you collapsed in each others’ arms and shared a passionate kiss. It was as if fireworks were going off in your whole body – an incredible feeling had completely enveloped you. Your mind felt light, and you rested your forehead against Xigbar’s. Your eyelids fluttered close.

For his part, Xigbar was stunned as he held you close in his arms. He had never fully allowed himself to feel much _emotionally_ during sex before.

But that had been incredible. No one had ever really fucked him like they _cared_ for him before. He hadn’t really given anyone the chance.

Xigbar kissed you softly on the cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered sincerely.

* * *

The regular alarm for work on your phone woke you the next morning. In a stupor, you fished through your scattered clothes on the floor to find the chirping device. After doing so, you crawled back into bed next to Xigbar.

“You’re not going in today, are you,” he asked as he wrapped his arms around you, his voice thick with sleep.

“No,” you murmured, enjoying his warmth, overjoyed that he was still there. “Just sent an email saying I don’t feel well.”

“Is that what they’re calling it nowadays,” he asked sarcastically, giving your ass a light smack. Even just woken up from a deep sleep, he was still full of snide remarks.

You swatted his hand away playfully. “I don’t think that ‘I had my brains fucked out’ would be a proper excuse.”

Xigbar snickered and planted a few slow kisses along the back of your shoulders. You two lay there happily... until the rumblings of your stomach interrupted. As the comfort and sleep wore off, you realized that you were starving. “I was wondering if we could go another round this morning, but it sounds like maybe I’ll make you breakfast first,” Xigbar offered, sitting up with a stretch.

“That might be good,” you admitted.

“You don’t have a smoke alarm, do you?”

“Uhhh, no,” you said with a frown, mildly alarmed.

“Great, they just get in the way of my process.” He laughed at your worried expression. “Don’t worry, it’ll be delicious."

“Alright, I’ll just get ready, then,” you said bemusedly. After you were done in the bathroom a bit later, you walked into a living room that was blessedly not on fire. “Thanks for not burning down my apartment,” you quipped.

“As if. I’ve been a bachelor, babe. I’ve had to learn to cook and look after myself,” Xigbar scoffed. He had thrown on his clothes from yesterday.

You took the plate of food Xigbar offered you with a wry smile. “Oh, really? So far it’s seemed like your culinary talents were only ordering from menus.” You took a bite. Your eyebrows rose in shock. “This is actually pretty good,” you said, digging in with gusto.

“Ever the tone of surprise,” Xigbar mocked.

As you two ate, something caught your gaze from the corner of your eye. It was the box; in the heat of the moment last night, you had completely forgotten about it. You had been basking in a glow of happiness from waking up with Xigbar, but realizing it was there stole all the happiness from the room.

It wasn’t that big, but somehow it seemed to dominate the space. It wasn’t just that it was out of place; it somehow seemed to… ooze malice. After a few minutes, you put your plate down uneasily. Even though the food was delicious, that thing was just putting you off your appetite. You had to know what it was exactly. “Can you tell me what this is all about? Are we safe with this thing here?” The box had taken on a life of its own in your imagination. You were sure the truth would rob its mystery away and make you feel better.

Xigbar didn’t say much initially. He continued to chew but then set his plate to the side. He looked at you with a look of resignation and sighed. It seemed to affect him the same way it affected you. “Back to reality, huh, babe? Yeah…” He rubbed the back of his head. “I promised I’d help you understand all this.” He took a deep breath. “There’s this project the military had a while back. It was called Kingdom Hearts. It was a human-integratable AI chip that could be installed along the nervous system. Having a computer hardwired into your brain like that could allow you to instantly analyze anything you saw. You’d be able to practically read minds.

“Well, the limitless possibilities ended up spooking the spooks; the government agencies pulled the plug on the project after they started to see just how powerful the technology would be. But you can’t just put the genie back in the bottle. The scientists on the project continued their work in secret. They got a working prototype together. My boss managed to get wind of it and decided to acquire the project.

“That’s where the box comes in. The scientists scattered to the wind after they finished their creation, and each took a key piece of the project. It’s been my job to track them down. Each time I do, their research goes into the box and the researcher gets, well…” Xigbar cleared his throat. “They get boxes of their own.

“A physical box probably sounds stupid in this day and age, but it’s not hackable, and I have the only key. I had this thing locked away somewhere I thought it was safe while I waited for the final stage of my boss’s plan, but someone managed to steal it. I thought it was someone in the Organization but turns out it was some group called the Heartless. We’ve tangled with them before. I tracked them down to Scala ad Caelum, but they gave me a run for my money getting the damn thing back. My ride was destroyed, my phone. I had to drag it through the miles of woods between there and here. Once I hit the city, I had to fucking slither through the sewers to make sure I wasn’t monitored.” Xigbar paused. “That was a lot. You OK, babe?”

On the couch, you were frozen in shock. You stared in horror at the box in front of you. Never in your wildest dreams did you think it could contain anything as dangerous as this. “How many people did you… kill,” you managed to ask after a few minutes.

“This week? Or in general? Oh, you mean the scientists,” Xigbar said, waving his finger. “The answer is all the same: too many. Not the most pleasant way to go about it. But what can you do? Getting back to Kingdom Hearts specifically: it was a big project. There were lots of cooks in the kitchen. Each person had their own specialty, their own piece of the puzzle. So that was a lot of folks to track down and… interrogate.”

You took a shaky breath. “OK. And… the Organization. How do _they_ fit into all this? Is your boss someone in the Organization?”

Xigbar laughed darkly. “As if. No, the original members were studying Kingdom Hearts, too. That made Xehanort notice them, so I had to infiltrate them and make sure they didn’t discover its secrets first. Eventually, I was able to start manipulating the group and used them to benefit me and my boss.”

“So just who is your boss? Why’re you even doing this,” you asked, desperate to understand.

“At the beginning of all this, I told you I had a reason, didn’t I?” Xigbar looked away, frowning. “When I was a kid in Daybreak Town, I was a fuckup. Wasn’t going anywhere, no one expected anything good out of me. I had a rough time of it. Not saying it wasn’t all my fault, but I had some pretty good reasons for hating the people in that town, too.

“Then, the Master of Masters just found me – out of the blue. Said he was taking on apprentices. I had heard about him before, he was a local legend, but I never thought I’d get to meet him, let alone work with him. The misfits he took under his wing – we all became friends. And we’ve been working for him ever since.” Xigbar sighed, rubbing his hands together. “It may not sound like much, but I owe him. I don’t know what I’d be or where I’d be without him.”

You furrowed your brows. After what you had seen last night on Xigbar’s back, you were upset to even hear him say that he thought he had brought some of that on himself. There was no reason that could justify anyone doing anything like that to a child. You knew he had escaped something awful…

But what about all those other scars on his body that Xigbar sustained while doing the Master’s dirty work? The Master inflicted those on Xigbar with orders to infiltrate the Organization and live a life of danger carrying out orders.

You felt bile rise in your throat. Your base instincts did not trust whoever this Master was. Xigbar may feel like he owed him a debt, but you doubted that Xigbar was recruited out of the kindness of this Master’s heart. You wanted to hear the full story, so you tried to keep your emotions under control and continue the conversation as calmly as you could. “OK, so you owe this Master a debt. I get that. But what could the Master want with Kingdom Hearts?”

Xigbar glanced around the room, as if he was nervous about being overheard. “He’s never told any of us directly, but my guess is that he’ll improve upon the design – he was a scientist himself for many years – and then whoever wants to use the AI can rent it from him, for an outrageous fee. People could do all sorts of things with it. The Master would control access, make sure nothing too crazy happened. Or he’d install the augmented version in himself and offer his services to the highest bidder.”

Someone who could have the processing power of a supercomputer hardwired into their living brain with its imagination and human ingenuity. The thought terrified you. It would change the course of history: companies, governments, societies all could have access as long as they were willing to pay. And you were sure that they’d find the money to pay and that regular people would suffer for it. The possibilities of destabilization were very real. One man could very well end up running the whole world.

“And you’re OK with the Master having that kind of power,” you asked tentatively.

Xigbar sighed. “Look, if _he_ doesn’t get it, someone else will. Whether it’s Organization XIII or the Heartless. Someone is going to control this technology, and I’d much rather it be the Master. He’s not like the rest of them. He’s not like Xehanort.”

You just nodded slowly, hoping that the unease you felt wasn’t written clear as day on your face. It was never good when someone’s go-to argument was, ‘Well, this is the best of shit choices,’ but it didn’t seem like Xigbar saw it like that.

“OK. You mentioned friends. Have they infiltrated Organization XIII, too?”

Xigbar shook his head, and a look of sadness crossed his face for a brief moment. “No, I’m the only one. We were all given different missions and we operate as independent cells. If one of us dies or is captured, we’re not as much of a threat to the rest of the operation that way.”

You continued to nod and listen, but internally there was a warning siren sounding in your mind. So this ‘Master’ seemed to somehow find and recruit vulnerable youths and had them befriend each other. Then, he trained them to fight for him and isolated them. And, if they failed in carrying out his incredibly dangerous orders, they couldn’t risk exposing him, lest they risk exposing said friends.

At this point in the conversation, it had become horribly apparent to you that the man you cared about had been mentally and emotionally manipulated by this Master for many years of his life.

You knew you had to tread carefully. You had been wanting to save Xigbar from Luxord and Xehanort, but now it seemed like there was an even greater potential evil than you had originally known about. One that Xigbar was incapable of seeing. You couldn’t push the point now. Xigbar had just opened up to you, and you were sure that if your response was too negative, the conversation would collapse.

‘Just a few hours ago we were having mind-blowing sex. Now I am planning my next sentences like I am in a crisis negotiation. Why can’t anything ever go smoothly for me, just for once,’ you thought bitterly. But in your heart you knew that Xigbar was worth it, no matter how ridiculous the situation. You had proved that already a few times by now. This was no time to feel sorry for yourself – your focus had to be Xigbar.

“Babe, you OK? You’re awful quiet,” Xigbar said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in. I had no idea there was so much more to it than just the Organization.” You cleared your throat. “But, how exactly does all of this help us put away Xehanort,” you asked, changing the subject. “It doesn’t sound like whatever’s in that box has anything to do with him.”

“That’s because I haven’t told you about Eraqus yet.” Xigbar leaned forward in his seat. “Eraqus and Xehanort used to work together. They were involved with the Kingdom Hearts project. I guess good ol’ Eraqus decided one day that he wanted the project to have more _peaceful_ applications,” Xigbar said, gesturing grandly. “Instead of one AI-powered superhuman, why not be more egalitarian about it? With what they were working on, they could’ve made it so everyone had equal access to a greater caliber of information. Analysis, too.” Xigbar put his hands down. “Well, the old man didn’t like that. He killed Eraqus.”

Xigbar looked at the box darkly. “That was why the scientists all went into hiding. After seeing what their creation had driven Xehanort to, they didn’t think anything good could come out of what they’d built.” Xigbar shrugged. “They were probably right. And that’s why Xehanort took such an interest when he found out a new group of scientists had been researching Kingdom Hearts. Hence Organization XIII. He was never able to track down his old buddies, though. At least,” Xigbar grinned, “not before I had gotten to ‘em.

“Anyways, the scientists, before they died, kindly recorded down their memories of what they saw that day when Xehanort killed Eraqus. It would’ve been better if they could’ve lived to testify, of course, but there should be enough in there to make it all admissible. That’s why I had assumed the old man had the box, or someone had tracked it down for him. I thought he had figured out we had those testimonies.”

Suddenly, that reminded you. “He might know you have the box now. Or that you were close to finding it.” You recounted the threats Luxord had spoken to you just yesterday morning. And his offer for Xigbar to reach out to him. You couldn’t believe you had forgotten – but Xigbar _was_ that sexy.

Xigbar leaned back in his seat, laughing. “Work with him? As if. That doesn’t make sense. Why would the old coot have Luxord play his hand like that?” Xgibar’s laugh stopped, and he frowned. “Unless our blond friend was acting on _other_ orders… Just who is Luxord, anyways,” he murmured to himself.

Oh, great. Awesome. As if things weren’t already complicated enough. You rubbed your temples.

Xigbar shrugged and stood up. “Doesn’t matter much now, though. The Master’s plan is nearly complete. Xehanort just has to produce the final key. There’s a failsafe in the tech that won’t allow it to activate without it. We have to offer him the AI as bait, get him to produce the final key, and then we can finally take it and be rid of the evil old man.” Xigbar went over to the box and unlocked it. He rummaged carefully through it for a moment and then took something out.

He held it out to you. It took you a moment to realize what it was. “An SD card?”

“Yep. When you give that to those goody-goodies at the DA, if they even have one brain cell between all of them, they should be able to start drafting a warrant for Xehanort’s arrest immediately. Just make sure they don’t arrest him until I have the final key from him. I’ll let you know once that’s done.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it. This is almost over. What… what will you do? Once the mission for the Master is complete. Will you keep helping him,” you asked, terrified of the answer.

“Huh. Honestly not sure. I haven’t let myself think about that too much,” Xigbar said dismissively. It sounded practiced, like a rehearsed answer – one he’d given many times before, probably even to the Master himself. Then, his perpetual scowl softened a bit. “Don’t know if I want to retire just yet. It’d be nice to take the next steps on my own terms, though. Freelance, maybe. There’s good money in it.” His golden eye looked you over quickly. “How about you, sweetheart,” he asked, a twinge of hopefulness seeping into the question.

You looked away; after what had happened last night, you weren’t sure you could stand to be apart from him… but after what you had heard this morning, you were scared. More so than ever before. Xigbar obviously thought there was some chance the Master would be willing to let one of his best lieutenants just walk away. From all the case files you had heard about from Riku, Sora, and Kairi, you knew it rarely played out like that.

“I want to protect you, Xigbar,” you said truthfully, turning back to face him. Your voice was clear and firm. You were scared, but you vowed to be brave; as brave as Xigbar thought you were. This whole time you had thought he was protecting you from danger, but today was when you realized it needed to be the other way around. From Xigbar’s puzzled expression, though, you could tell that he didn’t quite understand your sudden statement. So, to lighten the mood, you just stuck your hand out and gave him a wink. “Sound good, partner? Shake on it?”

Xigbar laughed and grabbed your hand. With a tug, he pulled you into his lap for a deep kiss. You melted into him, loving the feel of his lips gliding over yours. “Sure, partner,” he said, pulling away after a few moments. “Sounds great to me.”

You pressed your lips to Xigbar’s again in a fiery kiss, inviting his tongue into your mouth. As your tongues danced, you made a plan in the back of your mind: you were going to find out exactly what this Master was up to. And you were going to make sure he never put Xigbar in harm’s way again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems you two have rubbed off on each other (horrible pun fully intended)!!! Xigbar having emotions. You scheming. How will that end? And will you ever get to have a sensual moment with Xigbar not sandwiched between angst!?
> 
> OK, seriously: thank you for reading and letting me induct you into this 'Xigbar must be protected at all costs' club. I really hope you're enjoying it so far, and I love everyone's comments and feedback!!
> 
> I hope my characterization of The Foretellers and the Master of Masters hasn't put folks off, but... I mean -- this dude like tricked his adopted children into going to war with each other. Who does that??? And I hope we learn more about Luxu's backstory. And hopefully it's not actually as dark as this. But, like, he had to have SOME motivation for joining The Foretellers. And he seemed softspoken/aloof when he was younger and kept his whole body hidden, so I've just jumped wholeheartedly into the concept of 'tragic' and gone for this interpretation.
> 
> Also, seriously, WHO is Luxord. WHAT is going on? Will I find out after another decade when RE(iMAGIned): Verum Final Kingdom Fantasy Hearts Rex 4 is finally released?? Don't mind me, I'm just being bitter. I had to include the first lines from Luxord's speech to Xigbar, even though I made him give that speech to you. Because I had to try and make sense of it myself. Because, frankly speaking, it makes no sense to me right now. Goats??? Freaking goats.


	7. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seemingly hitting dead-end after dead-end, you finally manage an unexpected breakthrough in your investigation into the Master of Masters. But Xigbar doesn't react the way that you were hoping...

‘Now under new management!’

You frowned at the notice taped to the door of The Nocturne. Once inside the bar, you made a beeline for Demyx’s office. No one answered your knock on the door, so you decided to approach the bartender. It was early afternoon on a Saturday, and the place wasn’t busy yet.

“Hey! Is Demyx in?”

“New management. Didn’t you see the sign outside,” the man replied listlessly.

“Alright. Any idea where he went?”

“Not a clue.”

You tried to keep the annoyance out of your voice. “Well, is there anyone who _would_ know?”

The bartender scoffed. “Demyx was a fun guy, but he kept himself to himself. You and all the other creditors are just gonna’ have to wait for your money, OK? He’s gone. That’s all anyone knows.”

You turned on your heel and headed outside. Well now what the hell were you supposed to do?

It had been a few days since you and Xigbar had spent the night together. Xigbar had been busy with trying to bring the Master’s plan to its final stage, and you hadn’t heard much from him. You had kept yourself busy trying to find out everything you could about this mysterious Master. A general internet search hadn’t yielded anything, and nothing had jumped out at you after a look through the region’s criminal database (courtesy of an ever-obliging Kairi, whom you treated to an overdue dinner).

You had gone searching for any mention of Kingdom Hearts, too. There was nothing in the DA’s files, and everything online was pretty sketchy. Mentions of the mythical project existed on message boards dedicated to conspiracy theories and cover-ups. The general background information seemed to mirror what Xigbar had described, but the stories diverged when it came to the question of where the device was now. The consensus online seemed to be that it was already in use and being used by various groups to run the world. You could find nothing like Xigbar’s story of betrayal, murder, and a group of scientists on the run.

But you _were_ able to find an obituary for a military AI scientist named Eraqus. It was brief and only said that he died in a tragic accident. The notice had said he was to be cremated and ashes scattered; there was no mention on next of kin.

It was all razor thin, but from what you could see, there was no reason not to take Xigbar’s account at face value. However, it left you with no clear path forward. You hadn’t been sure exactly what your steps next should be if you wanted to find out more about the Master’s plan.

Then, this morning, you had gotten an idea. You still needed to figure out how Demyx had recognized you that night. That was worth following up on. So you had decided to change gears – only to find out that your little songbird had flown the coop apparently.

Tapping your foot on the ground in frustration, you wondered what to do next. It just seemed to be dead-end after dead-end.  If Demyx had gone, that only left… Vexen! You ran off to the subway. If Demyx was gone, then there was a good chance that Vexen would know what happened to him.  And from what Xigbar had said about Vexen, he seemed married to his work and you bet that he’d be the type to be working weekends.

Half an hour later, you ran up to the visitors’ entrance of Radiant Laboratories. “Hi,” you panted to the receptionist. “Is Dr. Vexen in? I, uh, have a meeting at – shit, what time is it – uh, 2:15?”

The receptionist was too flustered himself to be put off by you. “I’m so sorry, but no one has seen Dr. Vexen all morning. When was the last time you spoke to him?”

“I, uh, made it a while ago. I’m not sure…”

“This isn’t like him. He’s left no message, his car is missing. The police say it’s far too early to file a missing person’s, but something is wrong, I know it….” The man exhaled, trying to compose himself. “I’m sorry, if you leave me your name and number, I’ll be sure to call you when – hey. I don’t see a 2:15 on his calendar. Miss?”

But you had already bolted out of the lab and had pulled out your phone. “Pick up, Xigbar, pick up,” you muttered.

“Hey, sweetness. What’s up,” his silky voice said from the other end of the line.

“You’ll never believe this,” you said lowly, ducking into a random side street and telling him everything you had just found out. “Has Xehanort had them – I mean, did something ‘bad’ happen to them?”

“I don’t think so. I would’ve definitely heard something if that order had come down. Wait, hold on.” Suddenly, you heard an unholy howling. Someone was raging, yelling obscenities and possibly throwing things. “Can you hear that? Saix is in the next room; he’s going ballistic,” Xigbar snickered. “Sounds like he’s just found out, too.”

“Are you safe there with Saix,” you asked worriedly.

“Totally, babe. Alright, I need to go see him and act all surprised when he tells me. Nice detective work, but get it’s time for you to get your tight ass home and stay safe.”

You sighed as the call disconnected. A stray can on the ground suffered your frustration as you kicked it down the street. Another dead-end. Your two possible leads had disappeared into thin air, and you didn’t think your internet searches would get you anywhere you hadn’t been already.

Dejected, you made your way back to the subway. Your head ran in circles as the train trundled back to the station near your apartment.

As you exited, you had to walk through the larger, overground station it was connected to. Speakers blared announcements: ‘The 4 o’clock train to Twilight Town will be departing from platform 2… The 5:30 train from Daybreak Town will be arriving on platform 7…’ Your ears perked up. Wasn’t that where Xigbar said he had grown up?

You had exhausted all your other options. What could it hurt to go there and check? You hurried over to the ticket counter. “One ticket for the next train to Daybreak Town.”

“Just the one every morning at 8, so you’ll have to wait for tomorrow. It’ll be  800 munny.”

Not looking forward to an early start to your Sunday, you nevertheless got out your wallet.

* * *

The next morning, your feet hit the cobblestone streets of Daybreak Town. It was the most incongruous feeling: the city itself was charming with a town square, fountain, and rustic architecture – but it felt eerie, like it was part of a fairy tale gone wrong. None of the townspeople looked up or said hello. Not just at you – it seemed like they barely acknowledged each other. Occasionally, you’d see groups of people together and glaring at other groups who were glaring right back. Everyone had strange animal pins on. It was like the whole population had teamed off in some kind of weird conflict.

Around the train station was very commercial with tourists milling about and taking various pictures with the clock tower in the background. You decided to try and head out of the central area a bit more; maybe you could find out  _ something _ about the Master’s or Xigbar’s past if you walked a bit farther and found some locals willing to talk. You had a hunch that the Master had played a key role in whatever bad had happened to this town.

The more you explored, though, the less people you saw. The cobblestone streets grew more and more deserted. You were surprised; the weather was nice, it was the weekend – but people were keeping to themselves inside their homes. You tried to peer through windows as you passed, but every house had their curtains drawn or shutters closed.

“ Well, well, well. You have been a nuisance to find,” a cold voice called out from behind you.

Horrified, you turned around slowly. There stood Vanitas with a terrifying smirk on his face. “How did you find me,” you asked after you finally  recovered your voice.

“None of that matters. All that matters is that I’ve been made a fool of for weeks, and now I’m going to wring that neck of yours,” he hissed, stalking closer.

You gulped, walking backwards. Glancing around, the streets still seemed empty. If anyone could hear his threats, they weren’t coming to save you. “Where’s that friend of yours, Young Xehanort,” you asked loudly, trying to bide time or draw attention.

Vanitas sneered. “Not here. If he was, he’d make sure I get information out of you before I kill you.” He held his hands out wide, still advancing towards you. “But he’s busy with something else. Must be my lucky day.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that!” Suddenly, a young boy with silver hair and a red scarf leapt out of a nearby alley to stand next to you.  You hadn’t seen or sensed him at all! “Need some help,” he asked you with a wink. Not waiting for your response, he grabbed your hand. “Run,” he shouted, sprinting into the alleyway he had appeared from and taking you with him.

“I’m not letting you get away,” you heard Vanitas snarl, along with the heavy thud of his boots as he gave chase.

“Please tell me you know where we’re going,” you yelped, your legs straining to keep up with the red-scarfed boy.

“Of course I do! I know these streets like the back of my hand,” he yelled back as he abruptly turned down a new street, wrenching your whole body with him in the process. “Now no more talking! We don’t want him to follow our voices. Save your breath for running,” he panted.

You did as your rescuer said, your calves burning as your feet hit the uneven streets of the city repeatedly. Your thighs strained and your lungs heaved as you desperately tried to keep up with the boy in front of you. You had to tune your frenzied senses to the slightest change in his direction so as  not  to  waver for even a second at each turn. True to his word, he led you through a maze of alleys, never hesitating for a second.

You were terrified to look behind you, since you could hear Vanitas’s footsteps and violent threats in your ears. But after a good number of turns, they started to sound farther away. The few seconds of  pause at each turn to find and follow you were adding up – you were gaining an advantage over your pursuer! You were lucky. Vanitas probably far outpaced you in physical ability and could beat you in a straight chase, but following you through a labyrinth changed the game.

After a few more streets, the footsteps behind you suddenly stopped. You decided then to try and look behind you to see what Vanitas was up to. “I can’t hear him – maybe he’s – wait, he has a  _ gun _ ,” you screamed.

Instead of continuing to run after you, Vanitas had stopped to steady a pistol that he was aiming squarely at your back.

“A couple more yards, then go right,” the boy  heaved , tightening his grip on your hand.

The bang of a shot filled the air, and for a split-second where time seemed to slow, you tensed, legs in midair, expecting to feel a ripping sensation through your shoulders. But instead you felt concrete chips fly into your face as a piece of the wall next to you was blown away.

You screamed in fear, but the boy kept pulling you forward, refusing to let your steps falter. “Here,” he yelled, yanking you down another alley.

A series of cracks split the air, and you heard a volley of dull thuds as bullets buried themselves in a wall just mere inches from you. The boy didn’t slow his pace and neither did you as your feet carried the both of you through another series of dizzying turns. Finally, after running for so long that you thought that your heart would burst, the boy stopped in front of a building. With each breath, it felt like there was a knife lodged in your ribs. 

Doubled-over and panting, you looked backwards – but there was no sign of Vanitas. He must have never been able to regain your trail after he stopped and tried to shoot you. You tried to focus your eyes on the building’s only identifying characteristic: an old, weather-beaten sign hanging from two rusty chains. It looked like there was something carved into it… a dandelion? Any paint had faded long ago.

“Whew! That was a close one. My name’s Ephemer by the way,” the boy said cheerily.

You gave him yours. “Thank you, Ephemer. You saved my life,” you gasped out, rushing to give the boy a hug. You still couldn’t believe that you had been shot at – that you had nearly died. The thought made your legs feel like jelly, and you used the hug to brace yourself.

He laughed, and you saw a blush on his cheeks as you pulled away. “Of course I know who you are! That’s why I came to help.” He glanced around the empty street. “Now let’s not say anything out here. Come inside – she’s waiting for you.” He took out a key and opened the door to the house, ushering you inside.

“ _She_ ,” you said incredulously.

“Yeah! First thing’s first, though: welcome to Dandelion House! It probably doesn’t look like much… that’s ‘cause it’s not. She has to move every week. So it’s not like she can take a lot of stuff with her. Mostly just the sign.” Ephemer kept on talking in that kind voice of his while you just stood there, confused.

He was right that the house wasn’t homey. Judging by the peeling wallpaper and mottled carpet that you could see in the entryway, you’d think the place was downright abandoned. You felt uneasy. You thought that anything that got you away from Vanitas was the right call, and you didn’t see any treachery in Ephemer’s crystal-clear blue eyes, but… what if you were wrong?

“Who is this ‘she’ you keep mentioning, Ephemer? Can you explain exactly what’s going on,” you asked nervously, opting to stay right by the exit for now.

The boy’s sweet smile turned into a frown. He scratched the back of his head. “I wish I could tell you everything, but I find it all hard to keep track of, too. I’m sure Master Ava can clear it all up for you, though,” he said, his tone brightening.

“A Master,” you murmured to yourself. What exactly had Xigbar called the man he worked for? The Master _of_ Masters, wasn’t it? So did this mean… was Ava one of Xigbar’s friends!?

You decided this was a risk worth taking. “Alright, I’ll meet Master Ava.”

With a smile, Ephemer led you up the creaky flight of stairs to the back of the house. In one of the rooms, you saw someone sitting behind an old laptop. There were no windows, and the room was dim, but the occupant turned on a lamp as you entered. It brought some warmth to the cold room, but the smile from the person you assumed was Master Ava brought even more.

“Thank you, Ephemer. Was there any trouble?” You figured that she must be the same age as Xigbar, but her voice was as smooth and mellifluous as someone’s far younger. You couldn’t see her face to be sure of her age, though; it was covered in a porcelain fox mask, like something you might see at a masquerade ball. She wore an outfit made of light pink, flowing fabric.

“Yeah, a bit. Someone else tracked her into town – someone a lot less friendly. We managed to shake him, but I’m going to alert the rest of the Dandelions to make sure everyone is on the lookout.” Ephemer turned to you with his hands on his hips. “Did you know that guy’s name or anything?”

“Yeah. He’s Vanitas.” You described him in case Ephemer hadn’t gotten a good look. When you said that he worked for the Organization, Ephemer nodded like he understood exactly what that was. After he left the room, you turned back to Ava. “So… you’re having me followed, too? I’ve never been this popular,” you said with a laugh. Xigbar’s gallows humor was rubbing off on you.

“Yes. I never meant you any harm, of course. Hmmm, how best to explain…” She closed the laptop and folded her hands, thinking. “Maybe I should start from the beginning, if you have time?” She smiled softly at your nod. “Good. I assume Luxu has caught you up so far on the Master of Masters and Kingdom Hearts?”

You wracked your brain. “I don’t think I know anyone by that name…”

Ava tutted, chiding herself. “Of course not. He abandoned it long ago. What name do you know him by: Braig or Xigbar?”

“Oh – yes, Xigbar! I know him. He’s explained some things to me,” you said, blushing.

Ava’s smile under her mask became a little playful. “You ‘know’ him? Is that all?” Your blush deepened and she couldn’t help a girlish giggle. “My apologies – I’m not teasing. I just can’t remember the last time anyone could ever say that they knew anything about Lu- Xigbar, and I believed them.”

You figured that the bar must be very low if she was saying that about you and you hadn’t even known his real name, apparently…

Her mirthful expression turned serious, and she stared down at her hands. “But enough about him for now. Since you know about the Master of Masters and Kingdom Hearts, let me start with my story and that of the Dandelions.

“I was young when I joined the Foretellers, those who follow the Master of Masters. Daybreak Town was a beautiful place at one point, if you can believe it, and I was greedy for the finer things it had to offer, despite not having any money. That is why the Master of Masters christened me Ava. A reminder of my original sin… but, he kept me safe from the local authorities, and I was grateful for it.” Ava sighed. “Despite my many sins, I was quite naive.

“Before long, the Foretellers were called into service for the Master. He sent Luxu away and gave the rest of us detailed instructions, though none of us were supposed to know what the others were up to. It didn’t take long to see that the Master was pitting all of us against each other,” Ava continued bitterly. “The result is the Daybreak Town you see today. Its citizens either cower inside their homes or come outside to fight in the factions the Foretellers made for them.”

“ I saw some people wearing fox pins,” you couldn’t help interrupting. “I’m assuming that’s what you’re talking about. Why do you still wear the mask, then?”

Ava touched her slender fingers to the mask with a frown. “I’ve told myself that I’ll take it off once I’ve stopped the Master. Once what I helped him do is no longer a danger, I can start a new life and help rebuild Daybreak Town into what it was again.” She cleared her throat and continued.  “ But enough about the future. This conversation, regrettably, still has more to do with the past. 

“ I grew disillusioned after a while. I started to question the purpose of the Master’s orders. Others, like Lu- forgive me, Xigbar – stayed loyal. I took the Dandelions group that I had originally made under the Master’s orders and turned it into my own spy network.  Others who had become disenchanted  left the fighting and joined me , like Ephemer. I found out that the reason the Master made us form groups to  f ight each other was that he was trying to foment instability.

“Chaos can be beneficial to someone like the Master. It makes most people nervous, makes them make mistakes – but not him. He used the unrest to his advantage; it made it easier for Xigbar to find the scientists he was tasked with hunting down. At first I thought it was good… just the natural order of things. Only afterwards could I see how much pain we had brought upon everyone else.

“So I decided to go into hiding with my new group of Dandelions, and we’re dedicated to stopping the Master. That’s how I found out about you, of course. I had people following Xigbar, and that led me to you. And you appeared in Daybreak Town, and Ephemer was able to save you… it feels like destiny,” Ava said, her voice rising with hope.

“So, you didn’t tip Vanitas off that I was here,” you clarified.

Ava shook her head firmly. “No. My guess is that Aced – another Master, one it seems who was protecting you under Xigbar’s orders – is too busy now that the Master’s plans have progressed to the final stage to distract Vanitas, which allowed him to track you again.”

You nodded, trying to keep up with all this new information. “Why did you have me followed, then?”

Ava looked down at her hands. “I’ve been monitoring all the Foretellers for years, including Xigbar as best I can. I’ve never seen him…” You could see a  playful smile under  the edge of her mask. “Well, it became apparent that you mean something to him. And I imagine he means something to you, too, which is why I wanted to ask for your help.”

Her voice was imploring. “Xigbar is the key to the Master’s plan, more so than any of the rest of us. And if Xigbar can be convinced to turn against the Master, then I’m sure his plan could be stopped! That is what I would like to ask of you: help me convince Xigbar that the Master must not be allowed to succeed.”

“I… I got a bad feeling about the Master as soon as Xigbar told me about him, and we are… ‘close’ – it’s true,” you stammered, a blush creeping up your cheeks again, “but why can’t _you_ talk to him? Wouldn’t he be more willing to listen to you? You’re childhood friends and you’ve seen the light yourself. I think your own experiences would be the most convincing argument.”

Ava looked away with a frown. “Sadly, Xigbar and I had a falling out not long before he left on his quest for the Master. I don’t think he’d want to speak with me again, and I don’t think he’d trust my opinion on the Master.” You felt her eyes on your face. “Please. It has to be you.”

“I-I want to,” you said, faltering. “But I’m not exactly sure what to say. This is all so obviously crazy, but Xigbar can’t see that.”

“I’m not expecting you to do it all. Here,” Ava said, reaching into a desk drawer and then handing you a CD. “On it is proof of the Master’s plans to have Xigbar killed once he’s fulfilled his purpose.”

It was like your blood turned to ice in your veins at her words. Exactly what you had been afraid of… “Can we listen to it now?” Midst the horror, you wondered if you even _had_ anything that could play a CD anymore.

“Sure, here on my laptop-”

But just then, you heard hurried footsteps on the staircase. You both looked at the doorway in alarm – but it was only Ephemer. 

“Quick,” he panted. “That Vanitas hasn’t given up just yet. He’ still in the city, and he’s getting closer. I think we should get her out of here,” he said, pointing at you.

Ava quickly stood up. “Agreed. Can you drive,” she asked, turning to you.

“Um, yeah, but I don’t have a car with me. I was planning to take the train back.”

Ava shook her head and grabbed something else from the desk drawer. She tossed you a set of keys, which you managed to catch. “Please take that. It’s parked a few streets away.”

“But how will I return it,” you said, panicking.

Ava smiled. “My Dandelions will find it. Just leave the keys in it.” You opened your mouth to protest, but she held up her hand. “Please, it’s fine. The most important thing is that you get Xigbar to listen to that CD.” She turned back to Ephemer, who had been anxiously listening in the doorway. “Go with her and make sure she’s safe. Then head straight over to our location outside town. I’ll meet you there.”

You frowned, fidgeting with the car keys in your hand. “If whoever was keeping Vanitas off my back can’t help me anymore… is it safe for me to go home,” you worried out loud.

“Is there anywhere else you can go,” Ava asked with genuine concern. You got the sense that she’d allow you to come with her if necessary.

But instead, a few minutes later, as you  started the ignition of the car Ava had lent you, you listened anxiously to the dial tone of your cellphone.

“Hey, gorgeous. You’ll need to make this quick. I’m still dealing with the issue of our disappearing blonds.”

“Can I crash at your place for, uh, a while? I had a run-in with Vanitas a bit ago, and I’d prefer not to have him waiting for me when I get home.”

“What!? Yeah, yeah, of course – but not my main apartment. I’ll text you the address of a safe house no one else knows about. Where are you now?”

“Uh, it’s a long story,” you said with a wince.

That had placated Xigbar for the meantime, and you started to drive. To your unending fury, however, the car was the latest model, which had meant it couldn’t play CDs. (But you found it did get great mileage, to its credit.) You swore that if you  ever saw Ava again, you were going to have a stern talk with her about updating her operation to the latest media.

* * *

A few hours and many wooded backroads later found you in the safe house Xigbar had directed you to. You had gotten a shower and scrubbed all the sweat off from when you had literally been running for your life. You were amazed Ava hadn’t plugged her nose when you had walked into that room; no amount of deodorant could have been able to hold back the stench of fear that literally rolled off you in waves. You had been too preoccupied to notice until you had gotten in the car. You had opened the windows to get away from the smell of yourself.

Finally freshened up, you were pacing the living room, wondering how you were going to broach the topic that Xigbar’s longtime mentor meant to kill him. You looked at the CD Ava had given you. Maybe you should just let it do all the talking?

Just then, the front door opened with a bang and Xigbar rushed in. He kicked the door closed behind him and ran the short distance over to you. His kiss was like a wave enveloping over you as his lips crashed into yours and his arms pulled you into him.  While you loved the kiss, you had to pull away after a few moments to catch your breath. He had been holding you so tight that he had squeezed all the air out of your lungs. Too stunned and aroused to resist, you could only gasp as he pressed you up against the wall and brought his mouth to your neck. You clutched at his shoulders as he bit and sucked a trail up to your ear.

“I’ve  _ never _ met someone who gets into trouble like you do, and I don’t keep good company. I am never letting you out of my sight again,” he murmured. “ And I only have one eye, remember, so that means I’m going to be keeping you pretty damn close.” Pulling away, his golden eye looked you up and down. “Now that I’ve said hello, tell me what the hell happened. You’re not hurt?”

“No, I’m not – I’m OK. Vanitas must’ve followed me to Daybreak Town, but I got away-”

“Daybreak Town?” Xigbar’s eye narrowed. “What were you doing there?”

Crap. You had meant to lead up to that. Maybe after more kissing. You rubbed the back of your neck. “I was hoping to find out more about the Master.”

Xigbar snorted and crossed his arms. “As if. That’s where all this started, but…” He raised his eyebrows as he took in your nervous expression. “Unless… you  _ did _ find something? Was that how you ran into Vanitas? Was he on the Master’s trail, too?”

“ No, I don’t think so. I think he was just following me. I don’t think he cared what I was up to. It’s kind of a long story…” And so you told him about Vanitas showing up, Ephemer saving you, and Ava introducing herself as leader of the Dandelions.

At mention of the fox masked-woman, Xigbar actually staggered backwards a step. “You can’t be serious! Ava!? I haven’t heard that name in so many years… you said she was following you,” he exclaimed angrily.

“ Well,  _ you _ . Or…  _ us. _ She said she keeps an eye on everything that happens with the Master but that you two are estranged.”

“Yeah, get this: we were both doing our parts all according to plan – and one day out of the blue she picks a fight with me. Never saw her again after that.” Xigbar shrugged. “The Master said everything happens for a reason, though. I figured it was all part of his plan somehow.”

Your throat was dry as you prepared your next words. Your heart was hammering so hard in your chest, you were worried it would knock you off your feet. “But that’s just it – not everything goes according to his plan, does it?” You gulped and took the plunge. “She says that she has proof the Master isn’t who you think he is. He’s not a good man; he’s been using you, Xigbar.” You reached into your pocket and held out the CD. “She says this has proof that he’s planning to hurt you.”

Xigbar didn’t say anything. You searched his face for some sense of his reaction. His expression had turned strangely blank – there was no tension or surprise. His jaw wasn’t clenched, his brows weren’t furrowed. He was just coldly examining you and your words.

Maybe it was a huge mistake to have mentioned Ava. But he would’ve asked anyways where you would have gotten  the recording , and even after wracking your brain for the whole drive, you couldn’t come up with any plausible story that would’ve explained you coming into possession of something like this.

You licked your lips nervously and decided to continue talking. “I-I know that’s a lot to take in. And I haven’t had a chance to listen to what’s on here. But I think we should.” You could feel the sweat on your palms turning them clammy. “ I mean… what this man has made you do already… that’s not how you treat someone you care about.”

A cruel sneer cracked the facade of Xigbar’s calm. “It’s not about caring. It’s never been about that. Wasn’t that Illegality 101?”

“OK,” you said slowly, trying to keep your tone even. “ Then if that’s the case, it’s worth to listen to what’s on here, right? If he doesn’t care about you, then you should make sure that you’re not in any danger – that he’s not planning to hurt you like he’s hurt so many others.” You softened your tone and took a step towards him. “I’m just worried.”

Xigbar’s sneer turned into a dramatic, open-mouthed sigh. “Fine,” he heaved. “Just give the damn thing here.”

You smiled, feeling some of the tension lighten in your body. Maybe he really was willing to analyze the Master’s actions critically! Maybe you could stop this madness before it went any farther. Maybe – 

But Xigbar took the disc and his expression turned cold again. He cracked it in half and threw the pieces on the floor.

“Wh-what are you doing,” you shouted.

“I’m not about to believe the lies of some malcontent who left the Master and the rest of us long ago. Ava served her role, and if she’s bitter, that’s her problem. She’s just trying one last thing to manipulate the situation. She should’ve never involved you.” He took in your perplexed expression and sighed tiredly. “What is it? Don’t tell me you actually believe any of this.”

“ I don’t know what to believe! I barely know anything about this Master, but from what I do know, he sounds horrible! And if he doesn’t care about you, like you say, then – yes, maybe he would try to hurt you after you’re no more use to him!”

“Well, it’s just like you said: what do you know about any of it,” Xigbar scoffed.

“So help me to, then!”

The fight went on like this for some time. You begged and pleaded for Xigbar to make you understand his unwavering trust, why he wasn’t even willing to entertain the notion of betrayal. Why he, who was normally so careful, was blindly following the Master. You got angry at him for risking his life so needlessly. Your voice was hoarse, your face was  flushed , there were tears in your eyes.

B ut the worst part wasn’t your own pain. It was Xigbar’s reaction. He deflected, jeered, made light of everything. It was like it was all just a game to him. Like he didn’t see or care how much you felt for him. You could’ve handled his hurt, his anger, his fear – but  _ this _ ? His cold, sarcastic veneer hurt more than anything else.

“ Why are you acting like this,” you finally said desperately. “I’m not some stranger! I’m not someone you can twist around your words anymore! I  _ know  _ you!”

“You don’t even know my real name,” he responded contemptuously.

You glared at him. “I don’t see how that would be  _ my _ fault,” you hissed. “And I know that it’s Luxu. At least, that’s what Ava said. Unless you don’t trust her to even have that right.  By the way, do  _ you  _ even know the Master’s real name, ” you said sarcastically, spitting some of his own tone back at him.

“That little… I’ll deal with her later,” he muttered. “It doesn’t matter. What I’ve been trying to say this whole time is that you’re out of your depth here, ‘babe’ – and you need to just drop it,” he said caustically.

It was hateful hearing him say one of his nicknames for you with so much venom. It knocked the wind out of you like a sucker punch, and your chest was so tight you could barely suck in a breath. “I thought we were partners,” you said bitterly.

Xigbar let out a bark of derisive laughter. “How can you expect us to remain partners after this? You want to try and stop the Master, is that what you’re telling me,” he said incredulously. “You should consider yourself lucky I haven’t – haven’t had to-” He faltered with a wince and shook it off. He continued on in a calmer voice. “Normally I’d deal with enemies of the Master much more harshly. You’re lucky I’m letting you off easy.”

He looked straight at you with rage smoldering in his eye as he tried to keep his voice in his normal, carefree tone. The farce of it made you sick. “You know, I  _ do  _ believe in what he’s doing, after all! He says he’s gonna’ make the world a better place. I mean, it’s pretty shit, so I figure it can only go up from here. But it seems you don’t trust me enough for that to matter.” He grinned, but there was no happiness in it. “But, trust’s for suckers, so I guess I taught ya’ pretty well after all.”

“I trust you! I don’t trust  _ him _ ,” you shouted. “From what  I’ve seen, all he’s brought to this world is death and more death and he’s used you to do it! But I’ll try to listen if you just help me understand!” You grabbed for his hand, but Xigbar recoiled and took a step back.

“No. You have to get out of here. Somewhere I can’t find you – not Ava, not Vanitas, not the Master, not anybody. Just lie low and be safe.” His tone was serious and his jaw was set.

“ And what then? … Can I come find you after all this is done?” Your lips quivered around the words; they were your last hope.

Xigbar laughed at you, and the sound cut through your heart like a knife. “I told you before: consider yourself lucky. This is the most lenient I’ve ever been with any traitor before.” He turned to the door. He spoke but did not look back at you. “It was stupid to think that I could… that this could ever…” His voice was soft. “This was my fault.” He shook his head and looked back at you one last time with a glare. “You have three days here. After that, your time is up. And hopefully we never see each other again.”

You couldn’t believe it. When he first walked through the door, he had said you weren’t ever leaving his side again. And now he was walking out of your life forever.

Xigbar heard the sob escape your throat before he had finished closing the door. It sent another nausea-inducing wave of pain through him: of anguish, regret, self-loathing. But he didn’t look back.

He had a job to do. He couldn’t let the past decades be a waste.

He just couldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the hardest chapter to write, but I think it's realistic given that Xigbar seems so devoted to the Master and his mission in the game. With Xigbar's life on the line, will you be able to reconcile? Only two chapters remain!
> 
> Thank you so much for your patience with this and for everyone's comments and feedback!


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